The Washington Times, according to a report in the Washington Examiner, will be passed from one Unification Church-affiliated group to another for $1 plus the paper's debts and liabilities, an internal memo confirms, again giving Rev. Sun Myung Moon control of the newspaper he founded in 1982.
The Washington Examiner story stated that last week, Executive Editor Sam Dealey confirmed that there was a deal on the table to sell the publication to News World Media Development, a Unification Church entity headed by former Times Chairman Douglas M. Joo, but there was no word on a price. While the offer stands at $1, the debts and liabilities that News World Media Development will take on could put the price tag in the millions, making the deal similar to the Washington Post's recent sale of Newsweek for $1 plus debt to Sidney Harmon.
The $1 price tag also refutes rumors that an ongoing family feud was going to force Rev. Moon to pay a hefty amount for the paper, which has lost top executives and laid off dozens of staffers in recent months. Dealey would not comment on the memo or the price tag, but he expressed elation last week when the preliminary agreement was announced, reported the Washington Examiner.