A Unification Church company controlled by leader Rev. Sun Myung Moon is buying back The Washington Times — the conservative newspaper he started in the 1980s — for the price of $1 and the assumption of the company’s debt, according to an internal memo obtained by U.S. News & World Report.
Insiders at The Washington Times told U.S. News & World Report they were happy about the deal because they expect that church industry funds — which unexpectedly stopped in July 2009 — will resume and will keep the paper afloat. “It will turn the spigot back on,” one insider said.
The broadsheet will be sold by Moon’s son Preston Moon’s News World Communications to News World Media Development, a Unification Church company headed by Douglas M. Joo, the former chairman of the Times who was pushed out in November.
A memo obtained by U.S. News & World Report — written by Michael Marshall, UPI editor emeritus and an editorial adviser to Preston Moon’s New World Communications — criticizes recent media coverage which suggested the paper might be closing. More recent reports that emerged last week said that Moon would be buying back the publication.
Many of the former Times officials fired by Preston Moon will be reinstalled once the sale is complete, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly identified the role of Michael Marshall. He is an editorial adviser to News World Communications, the current owner and prospective seller of the Washington Times. We regret the error.
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.