Mediagazer: Former Yahoo Boss Ross Levinsohn Has a New Gig, and a Digital M&A War Chest (Peter Kafka/AllThingsD)

5:30 PM ET, January 15, 2013

Top News:

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

The Atlantic On That Scientology Advertorial: ‘We Screwed Up’ — Advertising's easy when the world loves you. When the pitchforks are out — when you're BP after the Deepwater Horizon spill, say, or Coca-Cola amid the sugary drinks backlash - that's where it gets tricky.

Discussion: The Onion, eMedia Vitals, Media Decoder, The Wrap, Guardian, @jackmirkinson and Erik Wemple

Jack Shafer:

When advertorial bites back — At about noon today, the Atlantic put on a very snug hair shirt, issuing a statement of apology and regret for having posted on its website Church of Scientology “Sponsor Content” yesterday. — The Scientology advertisement, composed by tone-deaf propagandists unable …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM and Business Week

Jon Russell / The Next Web:
The Atlantic backtracks and removes controversial Scientology advertorial

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Guardian News & Media to launch digital Australia edition — Katharine Viner, the Guardian's deputy editor, to lead digital venture which is backed by internet entrepreneur Graeme Wood — The Guardian is to launch a digital edition in Australia, backed by internet entrepreneur and philanthropist Graeme Wood.

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, Sydney Morning Herald, mUmBRELLA, Radio New Zealand, The Drum, @revdancatt and @iburrell

Andrew Miller / Lean Back 2.0:
Why the Guardian is launching a digital edition in Australia

Discussion: pressgazette.co.uk

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Former Yahoo Boss Ross Levinsohn Has a New Gig, and a Digital M&A War Chest — Ross Levinsohn, who wanted to run Yahoo but didn't get the gig, has a new perch. He's heading up a new digital media company backed by Guggenheim Partners. — Guggenheim already controlled several media trade titles …

Discussion: Folio, Media & Entertainment, AdAge, bizjournals and The Wrap

Hollywood Reporter:
Hollywood Reporter Parent Company Names Ross Levinsohn CEO

Discussion: Adweek, Business Insider, VentureBeat and DealBook

The Huffington Post:

Aaron Swartz's Lawyer: Prosecutor Stephen Heymann Wanted ‘Juicy’ Case For Publicity — WASHINGTON — The federal prosecutor who reportedly insisted on jail time for the late Aaron Swartz was “very, very difficult to deal with,” Swartz's lawyer told The Huffington Post.

Discussion: New Yorker, The Daily Beast, Fast Company and The Verge

Jessica Roy / Betabeat:
IBM Exec Husband of Aaron Swartz Prosecutor Takes to Twitter to Defend His Wife

Discussion: MediaShift, nbcnews.com, Wired, Daily Dot, New York Magazine, Business Insider and Hillicon Valley

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed: Iranian Government Promotes Aaron Swartz Conspiracy Theories

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:

Bill Press on future of Current TV hosts — As Current TV vanishes, the progressive media talking heads that called the network home are left with one major question: What's next? — What's next for each host professionally once Al Jazeera America takes the place of Current in millions of homes across the country?

Dylan Byers / Politico: Al Jazeera America: Will they watch?

Erin Geiger Smith / Reuters:

News outlets improperly used photos posted to Twitter: judge — (Reuters) - A judge has found that two news organizations improperly used images that a photojournalist had posted to Twitter in one of the first big tests of intellectual property law involving social media.

Discussion: Mashable! and Poynter

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Journal News deploys Fifth Avenue firm to reject interview requests — Last week, the Erik Wemple Blog pressed Kathy Moore, an editor at the Journal News, for an interview regarding the newspaper's very controversial maps of gun-permit holders in Rockland and Westchester counties.

Discussion: Washington Post

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:
James O'Keefe tries to get reporters to advertise their gun-free homes

Discussion: Twitchy

Lucia Moses / Adweek:

WSJ to Bow New Magazine — Whether it's taking stock of one's own wealth or gawking at others,' people's interest in money seems limitless. So says The Wall Street Journal, which is giving personal finance the glossy treatment with a new magazine insert, WSJ. … Money is a spinoff of WSJ.

Discussion: FishbowlNY and The Billfold

Deadspin:

Hot Stove: Deadspin, Gawker Swap Managing Editors — Deadspin has traded managing editor Tom Scocca to Gawker for managing editor Emma Carmichael. The sign-and-trade deal makes Scocca the deputy editor at Gawker, second in command to new editor John Cook, and it returns Carmichael …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

N.Y.'s tough new gun law also prohibits disclosure of gun owners' names — The New York state Assembly will vote Tuesday on gun legislation that would broaden the definition of assault weapons and require mental health professionals to report anyone they thought may become dangerous.

Discussion: Associated Press, msnbc.com, New York Times and The New Republic

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:

Layoffs occurring at Reuters — An undetermined number of Reuters employees are currently being laid off, a company representative confirmed to Talking Biz News. — Those layoffs include editorial staffers. — “Yes, I can confirm there have been layoffs across Thomson Reuters today …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Chicago Tribune:

Tribune Co. bankruptcy: Warning signs before the buyout — As pressure built to make a deal, an army of bankers and Tribune Co.'s top executives saw red flags but forged ahead — with huge fees and other payments as incentives — When Bank of America credit officer Dan Petrik and his team sat …

Chicago Tribune: Tribune Co. bankruptcy: Sam Zell's big gamble

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Jim Impoco to leave Reuters as the company readies new digital strategy — Reuters Digital boss Chrystia Freeland issued a memo this morning announcing the leadership structure of Reuters Next, the company's new consumer-facing online strategy and soon to be re-launched website.

Vadim Lavrusik / Facebook:

How Journalists Can Use Facebook Graph Search for Reporting — Today we're announcing Graph Search, a new way for people to navigate their connections to people and content on Facebook. It launches today with a limited beta. To sign up for the waiting list, see the bottom of the Graph Search about page.

Discussion: AllThingsD, VentureBeat, Facebook Newsroom, Poynter, NetNewsCheck Latest, Quartz, PandoDaily, The Verge, Washington Post, TechRadar.com, Reuters, BBC and Pocket-lint

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Howie Kurtz accused of interfering with story to protect Anderson Cooper's sexuality — CNN media critic Howard Kurtz is being accused of pressuring an editor at the Daily Beast, where he is a columnist, to kill a story that would have outed CNN's Anderson Cooper as gay — an accusation Kurtz strongly dismisses.

Discussion: TVNewser, Capital New York and Chickaboomer