Chambumo Gyeong - 418. Role and responsibility of the media
True Parents have often spoken about the importance of the media in realizing a world based on the culture of heart. For this purpose, they have made tremendous investments. They have especially emphasized that the media as the fourth estate, connected to the first three estates—the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government—has the important mission to promote the realization of world peace and defend the democratic system. To accomplish this, True Parents established and actively supported various media outlets and began World Media Conferences. 1 I have advocated that we consider this time to be the era of the fourth estate. The media, which is the fourth estate, needs to fulfill a leadership role that goes beyond the three estates of government—the executive, legislative and judicial branches. I have long been aware of this. Only the media can take on this role. Therefore, despite the difficulties, I have established media organizations and raised them to positions of prominence in the world. In America, The Washington Times occupies the most central position. (403-141, 2003/01/21) 2 The fourth estate, the world's media, has to be gathered together and set in a proper direction. Unless this is done, the world has no way forward. I have prepared for this for a long time. If we can educate people properly through the media, comparing and contrasting the truth of God and the spirit world with the world s present way of life, the ideologies of humanism and materialism will be shown to be bankrupt. People will lose interest in free sex and homosexuality. With this in mind, we have to educate people through the media. (403-187, 2003/01/22) 3 The era in which the first three estates dominate life will pass. The world should be guided primarily through the media, the fourth estate. I am not talking about the World Media Association in its earlier form. We must propose something revolutionary. That is why we have to organize a "Supra-World Media Association" conference in Korea. What is the meaning of "supra" in this name? You cannot understand it if you do not know God and the spirit world. When you become aware of God and the spirit world, you can resolve all the problems of communism and politics.
I have been contending with the world until now in order to establish a media foundation. The Washington Post and The New York Times are no longer an issue for The Washington Times. They have no choice but to follow the direction of The Washington Times. Some time back, the World Media Conference in London invited The Washington Times to take the leading conservative role. The Washington Times is also a leader in the adoption of the Internet and is affiliated with the UPI news service. It is robust, both internally and externally. (403-009, 2003/01/19) 4 In this era of the fourth estate, we have to set the direction in all areas. No nation, or even the United Nations, can set the proper direction. The media must do it. We all can see how the media organizations in Korea influence the elections. When people misuse the media, they destroy society. To lead the world from an unbiased perspective, media professionals need to have God behind them. If they do not work to gether with the global leadership of religion, they can destroy society. That is why we are holding conferences centered on the fourth estate, the media. (403-010, 2003/01/19) 5 Who will lead the world into the future? Universities cannot lead the world, nor can governments or the military. Those approaches have already been tried. Democracy and communism cannot lead the world either. In this era of the fourth estate, the media must investigate communism. If media professionals cannot achieve a clear perspective as to whether it is right or wrong, they must resign. They must also look into the democratic world. The capacity of the media to investigate things in a short period of time is unparalleled. The media has this power. Therefore, media organizations must be objective and accurate. (403-011, 2003/01/19) 6 In America, progressives are trying to dominate the three estates of government. The media organizations, which make up the fourth estate, are decidedly liberal. There are more than 1,700 media organizations in America. The Washington Times has contended with all of them, but an environment now exists in which one-third of these 1,700 media organizations respect us. In the past, The New York Times reported negatively about the Unification Church, and The Washington Post also had a biased viewpoint, but now the environment has changed; it cannot keep going as it has been. Distortions and false reports have been exposed. (403-043, 2003/01/19) |