Washington Times Promotes Rev. Moon's Agenda

The Washington Times is often quoted by media outlets seeking to illuminate the conservative viewpoint. When the host on C-Span's morning program quotes from the Washington Post or the New York Times, a caller usually asks why he/she didn't read from the Washington Times or other conservative paper.

I suspect that the majority of those callers do not realize the paper is owned and subsidized by the Unification Church, and supports the Rev. Moon's agenda of world domination. Moon, who has proclaimed himself the messiah, started the Washington Times in 1982 purportedly to "combat communism and be a conservative alternative what he perceived as the liberal bias of the Washington Post.

In an article by the Washington Post on the W. Time's 20th anniversary party in 2002, it is reported that Moon's media holding company has "plowed about $1.7 billion into subsidizing the W. Times say current and former employees. The rise of the influence the paper may also have been helped by inflated circulation numbers fueled in the early years by the regular discarding of "thousand upon thousands of papers each day at recycling drop-offs in Alexandria".

The influence of the Washington Times should not be underestimated. The W. Post reports that "A 2001 survey conducted for The Post by Alexandria's QS&A Research and Strategy, polling government "decision-makers" such as congressional staffers and presidential appointees, found that 85 percent of those polled read The Post at least three out of every four days. Eighteen percent read the Times. Six years earlier the same survey had the Times' readership among decision-makers at 35 percent, with The Post's at 91 percent. "

The far-reaching Moon empire owns several newpapers in Latin America and also owns UPI. From a report in mediachannel.org:

In May 2000, the media arm of Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church bought itself electronic fingers. News World Communications, Moon's media company, purchased United Press International (UPI), a once venerable news wire service. UPI, which provided news for media worldwide, could offer a legitimizing platform for Moon's dogma...

The source of funding for the Rev. Moon's extensive holdings is difficult to trace. Some are profitable, but many are non-profit foundations, or are subsidized, as in the case of most of his media empire. An extensive list of businesses and organizations under the control of the Unification Church entitled Moon Front Groups is posted at freedomofmind.com. The Unification Church in the U.S. has an estimated membership of 50,000 and a worldwide following of around 3 million.

From hillnews.com "Moon founded the Unification Church in Seoul, Korea, in 1954 and moved it to the United States in the 1970s. In 1982, he received an 18-month prison sentence for tax fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He has been derided as a megalomaniac cult leader and is most famous for mass weddings at which he marries thousands of couples simultaneously."

Moon followers were prevalent in years past, even here in the midwest, as they fanned out across the country hawking flowers at traffic lights, and going door to door to raise money for "orphanages". They often appeared to be vacant-eyed, smiling and totally under the spell of Unifcation Church dogma. Those fund raising efforts may have provided seed money for Moon's enterprises, but it is widely held that his organization has received infusions of cash from individuals in Korea and Japan who are interested in influencing U.S. governmental affairs.

The connection between Moon, the Reagan-Bush adminstration and connections to Korea and Japan have been written about extensively by Robert Parry at ConsortiumNews.com and several other reporters.
Parry is an investigative journalist who first exposed the Iran-Contra affair.

Often, those who attempt to expose Rev. Moon's connections and web of influence, both in the U.S. and abroad, are dismissed as paranoid conspiracy theorists. I think its time to take another look and to consider the source of much current conservative disinformation.