Universal Peace Federation Ireland and the Irish Daily Mail

The Press Ombudsman has found that the Irish Daily Mail offered to take sufficient remedial action to resolve part of a complaint made by the Universal Peace Federation Ireland, under Principles 1 and 2 of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines,  about an article published in the  newspaper on 12 September last.  Other parts of the complaint were not upheld.

Mr Harlvard K Iversen, Secretary General of the Universal Peace Federation Ireland, complained that the article breached Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy), 2 (Distinguishing Fact and Comment), 4 (Respect for Rights) and 8 (Prejudice) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.  The article was written in relation to the death and pending funeral of Rev Dr Sun Myung Moon, the founder of the Unification Movement, who had recently died, and included pungent and provocative comments on a number of matters relating to the Unification Movement and its founder. The newspaper argued that the purpose of the article was to reflect the controversies surrounding the Rev Moon and the Movement he founded.  While rejecting the contention that its article had been in breach of the Code of Practice, the newspaper said that it accepted the genuineness of Mr Iversen’s views and offered to publish his response to the article by way of letter to the editor.   Mr Iversen turned down the offer, seeking instead the publication of an article by him.

The Movement which the Rev Moon founded has  -  in common with some other religious denominations - been the subject of public and media discussion and debate  for many years.   It has also been the subject of a number of legal actions.   In the view of the Press Ombudsman, the majority of the issues raised by the complainant involve issues of disputed opinion relating to the multitudinous arguments between supporters and critics of the Rev Moon and his Movement over a period of several decades.   In these circumstances, the newspaper’s offer to publish a letter from the complainant, setting out his views on the article, was sufficient remedial action on its part to resolve the complaint under Principles 1 and 2 of the Code.   

There was no evidence that the article was knowingly published based on malicious misrepresentation or unfounded accusations, as would be required to justify a breach of Principle 4.

While there is little doubt that some of the comments contained in the article about the late  Rev Moon and his Movement have offended the complainant,  the fact that an article offends some people does not in itself present evidence of a breach of Principle 8 of the Code.  In this instance, there was insufficient evidence that the article breached Principle 8 of the Code.

13 February 2013