I enjoy the writing in the Atlantic as much as the next guy. (Edit: and to their credit, here is a slightly more interesting story they did on Scientology in 2011: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2011/02/scientology-... )

That said, it's not hyperventilating to point out that prohibiting dissenting comments on articles, even if they are shameless (and paid-for) advertising, is pretty much bullshit.

I mean, The Atlantic is a private company, they have the right to do whatever they want, squelch whatever discussion they like. The First Amendment doesn't apply to posting on websites. But they get to deal with the fallout that comes with it, and it looks like they either didn't anticipate exactly how badly their shameless cash grab would be taken, or they didn't think there was anything wrong with essentially putting their good name and credibility behind something as controversial (charitably speaking) as scientology.

I have never finished an issue of the New Yorker before another issue comes out, but the two or three articles I do read tend to be amazing. It's definitely worth the steep price of admission.

I subscribed to the Atlantic recently (and won't be canceling, since they retracted the Scientology ad) and have to say that I get as much or more from their web articles as I do the print edition. I guess there's less guilt now though.

They haven't quite retracted it yet: "We have temporarily suspended this advertising campaign pending a review of our policies that govern sponsor content and subsequent comment threads."

That's probably because they are still trying to figure out if Scientology can sue them for breach of contract. Org lawyers are less stable than old dynamite.

The best way to finish the New Yorker is to not feel as if you need to read every article that it contains. I routinely skip the fiction pieces as I am not a big fan of short stories, and the same goes for most of the critical pieces.

Oh, I don't stress about it too much. And yeah, I have no use for their fiction or poetry, but sometimes their criticism can be interesting.

Is there a difference between the two? I always assumed that I could ignore all the web articles and assume it would magically appear on my Kindle when the new edition came out.

I always figured there was stuff in the print/digital edition that isn't on the website, but I never really bothered to check either. Guilt assuaged either way I suppose.

They'll run more scientology crap in a few months time once you've all forgotten and nobody's looking, don't worry.