MONTEVIDEO (Uruguay) Convinced that the breakdown of the traditional family is the prime cause for the moral degradation of the modern society, Reverend Moon has embarked on a media crusade involving the worldwide establishment of pro-family newspapers.
Eventually, Reverend Moon plans to open daily newspapers in 185 countries around the world through a print media network that will take advantage of recent technological advances such as satellite transmissions that permit the rapid transmission and exchange of data.
Because Reverend Moon’s main concern is to promote “true family values,” he has calleon a number of representatives of the Family Federation for World Peace (also founded by him) as well as a number of UTS graduates, to become actively involved in this ambitious media project.
In particular, several graduates from the 1995 and 1996 classes were invited to participate in the launching of Tiempos del Mundo, a newspaper targeted to the Hispanic communities in the Americas. Tiempos del Mundo is slated to become the first Pan-American newspaper through its publication in at least 17 different countries (10 in South America, five in Central America, one in the Caribbean, plus the United States).
Tiempos del Mundo reporters in each country send their articles through the V-SAT satellite system to the Buenos Aires editorial headquarters where the stories are gathered, edited and then, in turn, “broadcast” simultaneously to each country.
The international news that is thus shared by the various countries is not, however, the only coverage that will be provided. Each affiliate is also responsible for the gathering and publishing of local (national) news, which will provide the editions of Tiempos del Mundo in each country with their own distinct national news and advertising pages. This combination of an international edition and a local one is unique in the print media industry where newspapers with international editions (such as the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times) are targeted to certain regions (such as Asia and Europe), but not to specific countries. Other publications with international distribution, such as newsweek and Time, publish editions in various languages, but all editions basically have the same content.
The uniqueness of Tiempos del Mundo, therefore, is its potential to compete in the local publishing markets, while at the same time emerging asa major regional and international newspaper. Interest in international news has increased dramatically over the years as television (for example the CNN worldwide news network) and the World-Wide-Web information explosion have made the “global village” concept a reality more than ever before.
Coming back to the issue of family values, TDM is dedicating a lot of its attention to isue affecting the well-being of the family. It recently published an extensive series of articles analyzing the plight of millions of children in Latin America whose abandonment and marginal existence have come to symbolize the economic malaise and gross inequities typical of many Latin American countries. Also TDM has started a special supplement titled, “The Family,” which is dedicated to helping parents in their challenging task of creating healthy families. Although Tiempos del Mundo has been published as a weekly since its inauguration on November 23, the newspaper is preparing to go daily some time this summer.