Tuesday, September 7, 2010

The Washington Post's Sloppy Reporting on Moon

Ian Shapira has a Washington Post article on the rocky finances of Sun Myung Moon's Washington Times. Nothing new--the article chronicles how the paper has been one big money pit. One huge problem is how Shapira ignores the misery that bankrolled the paper. Shapira writes:
In summer 2009, the Times' future turned rocky. In July, church donations from Japan, long a key source of subsidies, stopped flowing to the paper, according to a memo by Victor Walters, treasurer of the Times' parent company.
Donations? This whitewashes the "spiritual sales" mega-scam that Unification used to bilk hundreds of millions--possibly billions--from distraught Japanese widows. Essentially, it was the selling of indulgences to vulnerable women who has just lost their husbands; they were told to buy religious relics at extremely high markups in order to prevent suffering of their husbands in the afterlife. It worked remarkably well, enabling Moon to bankroll the Times and live like a king.

One other note about the article: it mentions a financial arrangement that the Times has with The Talk Radio Network which is run by the son of fringe religious leader Roy Masters.

2 comments:

Porcupinetaxi said...

I love the Washington Times. It is one of the best papers in circulation. It often agrees with me. That's great!

Anonymous said...

"For the past year, financial contributions have not been coming to support the Washington Times. This happened abruptly, to the surprise of everyone, and it happened in a way that was unexpected and put undue strain to UCI as an organization."

Washington Times and Media enterprise in the USA
He is also the owner of The Washington Times. The paper is at the point of having to consider selling or closing. This is because the Tongil Group cut off all funding to the paper from July of 2009 - funding that had been continuously maintained for the last nearly thirty years. The monthly financial support of millions of dollars is no longer available. As a result, among the companies affiliated with UCI, The Washington Times incurred the most damage. The paper that had been cultivated by Rev. Moon had to undergo tremendous restructuring, including a reduction of its employees to close to ¼ of the original number. Under these circumstances, it has held out for one year but has now reached its limitation.
- There is news that The Washington Times that was founded by your father in 1982 is facing financial difficulties.
"The newspaper industry in America, not only The Washington Times, is very difficult. The Washington Post has, every year for the last five years, been losing sales by twenty percent, in terms of their circulation. Historically, in America, print publication is usually a monopoly. In other words, if you are the number one paper, you will make money, if you are not, you will always lose money."
-So, from the beginning, in terms of an economic model, the Washington Times did not have a sustainable model?
"That was a fact. My father was committed to educate America about the threat of Communism globally. So, it was one of the most instrumental media agencies in America that helped define and win the Cold War. There is no doubt about that. It has continued this far due to this mission."
-After the large-scale restructuring last year, is there some plan you have regarding what to do?
"For the past year, financial contributions have not been coming to support the Washington Times. This happened abruptly, to the surprise of everyone. And it happened in a way that was unexpected and put undue strain on UCI as an organization. However, due to the tremendous efforts of people in my staff, as well as in the Washington Times, we have made every effort to keep this entity afloat within the UCI Group."