Editor: Deal in works to sell The Washington Times

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

The executive editor of The Washington Times says the owner of the financially-troubled newspaper has reached a preliminary agreement to sell the paper to a company affiliated with the Unification Church.

Sam Dealey said late Tuesday that the deal is subject to a 30-day due diligence period. The sale to News World Media Development will be finalized after that if all parties still agree.

... The conservative newspaper has struggled to stay afloat financially, cutting roughly 40 percent of its staff this year and eliminating its sports section. Dealey says the newspaper's circulation is roughly 40,000.

Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Editor-Deal-in-works-to-sell-apf-1773698266.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=1&asset=&ccode=

[PSPS]

1. A circulation of only 40,000, yet its moonie cultists get face time on every national media program.

[dkf]

2. Yeesh even the righties can't make it.

What happened to all their sponsors like the guy who was after Clinton?

[rpannier]

3. Bet they could have made a bundle if they'd have sold it to a company

that made floor lining for bird cages

[madfloridian]

4. Moon's son already owns it.

So it doesn't make sense that they want to sell it to the Unification church.

"The paper was founded in 1982 by Unification Church leader Rev. Sun Myung Moon. His son currently owns the paper."

[Lasher]

6. Moon's children are fighting for control of the empire and the Washington Times is caught up in it.

First, a little background:

The Washington Times has lost money every year that it has been in business. By 2002, the Unification Church had spent about $1.7 billion subsidizing its operation of the Times. In 2003, The New Yorker reported that a billion dollars had been spent since the paper's inception, as Moon himself had noted in a 1991 speech, "Literally nine hundred million to one billion dollars has been spent to activate and run the Washington Times". In 2002, Columbia Journalism Review suggested Moon had spent nearly $2 billion on the Times. In 2008, Thomas F. Roeser of the Chicago Daily Observer mentioned competition from the Times as a factor moving the Washington Post to the right, and said that Moon had "announced he will spend as many future billions as is needed to keep the paper competitive."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Times#Funding

This article from an actual newspaper clears up the mystery:

In addition to facing the declining economic fortunes that have hit vitually all newspapers, the Times is caught in the middle of a battle for control of Moon's vast business empire, as the church founder's grown children have been dueling over who will run Moon's real estate and fishing concerns. The father gave the Times to Preston, his oldest son, in 2006, according to former Times officials.

Tensions between Preston and his younger brother, Justin Moon, ignited last year, according to church and Times sources, after Preston tried to gain control of another church-supported company, UCI, which has about $3 billion in real estate and fishing assets. In retaliation, Justin, who runs many of the family's businesses in South Korea and Japan, slashed the Times's annual $35 million subsidy, forcing the paper into a series of layoffs.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/24/AR2010082406128.html

Preston wasn't content to just play newspaper guy, but greedy Justin is not inclined to share. So he cut off the gravy train that had been keeping Preston's loser newspaper afloat since its inception.

Now Preston is threatening to shut down the Times altogether. But 90 year old Daddy Moon wants to keep the propaganda going at any cost, and that's why he's interested in buying the Times back from Preston.

[KurtNYC]

7. "a company affiliated with the Unification" cult

possibly their company which makes "imitation crab meat" for all the cheap California rolls in the USA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_World_Group

[SpiralHawk]

8. "a company affiliated with the Republicon cult..."

Republicons luv them their cashmoneybucks Second Coming of Crony guy, Rev. Moon.

Talk about Republicon Family Pharisee Values...

[palotin]

5. Let's see what comes of it

Even if it's not sold to another fascistic cult will it really be an improvement?

[mike r]

9. Just do a raffle at their mass weddings

And do more mass weddings. A lot more.

[dimbear]

10. Come on. Got to sell it to Justin.

Call it the Justin Times.

[defendandprotect]

11. This is yet one more example of rw $$ keeping rw press in place ....

Washington Times has been losing money since Moon bought it !!

And this is typically the way the rw world works!!

Turn off your TVs and let's see what happens????