Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because they took questionable advertising from an organization we don't like? That's a bit much.
I'd go further. They're a dangerous, internet-hating cult.
And a literal terrorist organization.
The Atlantic posts sponsored Scientology story, moderates comments
191–200 of 261 posts
Re: The Atlantic posts sponsored Scientology story, moderates comments
#192Without delving into the specifics of Scientology, I am reminded of a grellas quotation: "The most valuable asset of a lawyer is his reputation." This applies to some journalistic endeavors as well. In some cases, I seek out the thoughts of those whose facts are unreliable, because their opinions are interesting or novel. But just as often, I seek out long-form, descriptive pieces to learn what reliable people believ…
The other problem with this sort of story is that the sponsors can validate themselves by referencing the major publication in which they have been "featured."
http://xkcd.com/978/
Obligatory xkcd strip.
Re: The Atlantic posts sponsored Scientology story, moderates comments
#193It looks like a Disney religion, really. Look at the balloons at the Tel Aviv opening. Look at the cute bow they have on each of the churches! I wonder if they have rides...
The "super power" orgs have beautiful shells but rotten, partially constructed or otherwise unoccupied interiors.
Re: The Atlantic posts sponsored Scientology story, moderates comments
#194Re: The Atlantic posts sponsored Scientology story, moderates comments
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
What you are doing is basically deriving monetary benefit from the considered act of deliberately manipulating people's views on behalf of corporate interests. That is not only morally wrong, but it is disgusting that you attempt to justify it as completely normal and right through allusion to 'monetization'. (Telling example - monetization of hatred: http://www.jrbooksonline.com/PDF_Books/AP.pdf )
> What you are doing is basically deriving monetary benefit from the considered act of deliberately manipulating people's views on behalf of corporate interests. No way. Even we are users too. We have family members who are not as tech savvy as us. We are not doing anything deliberately. In fact, if we are deceiving users then it won't be advertising. We are equally concerned of maintaining sanctity of advertising. W…
> (whole lot of tangents with no actual response)
Pragmatically, you do seem to be in the right industry.
Re: The Atlantic posts sponsored Scientology story, moderates comments
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
if you go watch the 'upvote' count on his comment, it is flickering rapidly, up two, down one, up one, down two - fascinating.
Now his comment seems to have gone...
Hrm, I'll be fascinated to know whether there's a COS employee of the Atlantic or whether they give moderator accounts to their advertisers, HuffPo-style.
Re: The Atlantic posts sponsored Scientology story, moderates comments
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's some anger there, but it calls out shills as it sees it. It's not a "left wing conspiracy" if those being targeted are literally being paid to sell a narrative.
Certainly - I'll readily admit that I didn't dig deep enough to form a solid opinion. It was just my impression after a quick scan through several pages. It's also worth noting that I didn't call it a "left wing conspiracy" - I said "left-wing conspiracy nutters", which is quite different! I can appreciate the desire to call out shills, but if you're going to pin someone to the wall for being biased, it's best to try…
The facts are ~usually~ pretty good, but I'll cop that the language and phrasing is very preach-to-the-choir unnecessary. That's somewhat The Exiled's shtick, though. I just roll my eyes, they often have interesting things amid the shrillness.
Re: The Atlantic posts sponsored Scientology story, moderates comments
#198I haven't read all these comments, but this could not be a big deal at all.
We had a "sponsored" story written about FamilyLeaf for The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/sponsored/bank-of-america/archive...
I'm pretty sure the author was just a freelance writer that BofA was sponsoring to write about startups, and we didn't pay a cent or do anything weird to get the piece.
Re: The Atlantic posts sponsored Scientology story, moderates comments
#199The most interesting part of the story, to me, is that none of the links have rel="nofollow." I wonder how much of this is motivated by SEO.
Re: The Atlantic posts sponsored Scientology story, moderates comments
#200I liked the part where it said:
Under ecclesiastical leader David Miscavige, the Scientology religion expanded more in 2012 than in any 12 months of its 60-year history.
EDIT: before downvoting...read it again. :-)