Authors
Sekai Nippo
True Parents realized the need to spread the values of the free world in Japan to deal with the threat of international communism. Therefore, on January 1, 1975, they founded the daily newspaper, Sekai Nippo.
Sekai Nippo, in particular, stood on the front line during the Cold War to warn people about the threat of communism. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the paper attracted attention for its defense of the basic values of freedom and human rights.
Sekai Nippo provides exemplary and responsible media coverage, criticizing leftist media, newspapers, and broadcasting stations.
1. From now on, I must challenge the mainstream media in this country. How will I do it? I will create a media organization and raise a voice from an independent position.
Media outlets are leading the world to ruin by becoming the mouthpieces for communism. Shortly, I will establish a newspaper company even greater than The New York Times. We are preparing to publish a daily newspaper in Japan.
We must surpass communism quickly. It also can be done in America. If I determine so, it will be possible. Newspaper companies are now facing difficulties with home delivery, so one by one they are disappearing.
Shortly, we will build an organization that surpasses current newspaper companies. We have a foundation upon which we will be able to reach distant regions. (073-308, 1974/10/06)
2. The Unification Church of Japan owns the daily newspaper, Sekai Nippo. It was established on January 1, 1975. During the previous four months, I had directed preparations to publish this newspaper. I told our members, “We are going to start a newspaper company, so make preparations!”
Have those people ever seen a newspaper company? Even if they had, they would not know how to start one. That is why originally, they worried, “What are we going to do?” However, I gave them the strict command that this newspaper must be published on the first day of January 1975.
That is how Sekai Nippo came about. On the first day of publication, people said, “The Unification Church is operating a daily newspaper, but how long can it last? It will not even last six months.”
Yet now a year and a half has passed, and our newspaper, far from perishing, has perfected its organization. (088-172, 1976/08/10)
3. I told the leaders in charge of each region to distribute free copies of Sekai Nippo every day. Give people free copies all the time. Do this as a volunteer. How grateful do you think the recipients were?
Then we would say, “You receive the newspaper for free, but you can place advertisements in it, so please do your advertising in our newspaper.”
We had local editions that included local and regional news, from the Shibuya district of Tokyo, for example.
Therefore, advertisements in our newspaper would be seen by every single household in that district. It has become more effective to advertise with us than with any other famous newspaper. (093-292, 1977/06/11)
4. I founded Sekai Nippo and then began the World Media Conference. It was the first time I attempted this, but it was successful. Even Japan's leftist newspaper representatives said, “That conference was very fascinating.”
On the other hand, they also said, “Undoubtedly, the media worldwide will split in two because Reverend Moon is doing this.” The participants were amazed to find out that I founded Sekai Nippo. (095-207, 1977/12/04)
5. If I can influence economies, mass communication, and universities worldwide centering on Unification teachings, you will see that I will be able to move the world. All of you working in our companies around Japan also will report local news stories as reporters for Sekai Nippo.
Go to different places and investigate each field. If people working in America have valuable information, they will send it to Japan's Sekai Nippo. If we can firmly establish Sekai Nippo in Japan, we can train young people from America and Japan to establish newspaper companies around the world.
Then we will make a news agency so that breaking news can be sent out to 130 nations. Without doing this, there is no way to counter the propaganda that media influenced by the communist world is feeding our nations. (076-257, 1975/03/03)
The News World
On December 31, 1976, True Parents raised the banner of their first newspaper in the United States when they established the daily newspaper, The News World. On April 4, 1983, it was renamed the New York City Tribune.
6. So far, the media is often an influence for unrighteousness rather than for righteousness. Therefore, we must stand upright for a media promoting justice. If we cannot set the media straight, we cannot save America.
This is why I am getting involved directly. What can a religious leader do by running a newspaper? Because newspapers are typically a bad influence, my eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands, feet, and heart are focused on establishing a newspaper. This newspaper has become an important starting point and dividing line. That is my policy.
Next, we must witness. If we do not do these two things, America will come to ruin. The world will come to ruin. That is why I instructed the missionaries worldwide to obtain training in journalism. I counseled the missionaries and told them that we must go forward, clinging to the world centering on religion.
This is the spirit of our media organization. This is a most worthwhile and impressive step. (093-128, 1977/05/21)
7. When I said that I would make a newspaper company, The New York Times and The Washington Post laughed at me, saying, “Reverend Moon is making a newspaper company?” Not just anyone can make a newspaper company.
A media organization is a complex operation that requires talented people in multiple areas. It cannot be done just by giving someone a salary. When I was establishing Sekai Nippo, I formed the organization four months in advance and then started publication. The News World was set up in less than four months. (100-188, 1978/10/14)
8. We have the responsibility to help this nation when it is in crisis. From this perspective, we must make a bulwark according to the will of heaven. We are fighting a battle that is not visible to the naked eye.
That is why we must choose a new starting point and direction, draw a line in the sand, and move forward. I have established the turning point centering on the individual, family, and tribe, and from now on, I must establish the turning point centering on the nation. Today, we must return America to the side of righteousness. If we do not do this, God's Will cannot be realized.
When we accepted the will of heaven and carried it out, unexpected results appeared. The News World became famous worldwide. When Reagan and Carter were campaigning for the US presidency, our newspaper predicted that Reagan would get over 350 votes in the electoral college.
This was at a time when everyone was saying that Carter would win. However, The News World sent out these kinds of articles all over the nation.
So you can imagine the extent to which people said we were crazy. They said, “Look at them setting themselves up for embarrassment.”
(110-047, 1980/11/08)
9. President Reagan has no personal relationship with me. America is the central nation of Christianity, and yet Americans have forgotten their traditional ideology. That is why America is so susceptible to the communist perspective. And that is why I helped them.
On election day morning, we published The News World with the headline, “Reagan Landslide.” There are over 1,700 newspapers in America, and all of them were saying that Reagan did not stand a chance. In this situation, we stated that Reagan was going to win. (121-151, 1982/10/24)
10. When Reagan was sworn in as president, I sent him a letter saying, “God will be with you if you are strong and bold.” From now on, many protests will arise in America.
Many strategies will be devised to attack the Reagan administration. Communist powers are planning to send guerrillas to El Salvador, to strike a blow against Reagan. Based on their international strategic plan, a guerrilla war is unfolding in El Salvador. This is an undeniable fact.
That is why, earlier on, The News World attacked The New York Times. The painful truth is that The New York Times is supporting the ranks of the left.
This is the first time that any media company has struck The New York Times. All of this leads me to plan to establish newspaper companies in South America, the Middle East, and Europe. (111-289, 1981/03/08)
11. In April 1983, The News World was renamed the New York City Tribune, an excellent name. People will see that the New York City Tribune is striving to establish itself on an equal footing with The New York Times.
The same holds for The Washington Post and The Washington Times. Labels such as Times and Tribune are royal trademarks in the newspaper world. People in New York are keen to learn about current events from newspapers, and they will evaluate The New York Times and the New York City Tribune on equal terms.
(125-302, 1983/03/29)
12. Now, Korea's The Segye Times, America's The Segye Times, Japan's Sekai Nippo, and The Washington Times must all join The News World Foundation. Then the New York City Tribune, Noticias del Mundo, Ultimas Noticias, and The Middle East Times also must join.
All these media organizations should be part of The News World Foundation. When The Washington Times in America reaches a certain standard of success, it will become a powerful voice.
Once we reach a new scale of readership, the profitability will strengthen our administrative resources, enabling us to expand our services. They hold great potential to benefit society. (186-127, 1989/01/31)
Sun Myung Moon