July 20, 2008, 2 a.m. - United Press International today corrected an omission of important information from its "crash" story about Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon's ownership of the Washington, D.C.-based news wire.

UPI immediately corrected its omission after being notified of it by The Washington Continent. (See The Continent's original story).

"Thank you for pointing out my omission," UPI reporter Chuck
Debevec wrote The Continent in an e-mail. "It has been rectified."

Debevec's omission was made in  the news story titled: "The Unification Church founder hurt in crash."

UPI was purchased in 2000 by Moon, who is considered by some to be a cult leader.

"We even have to utilize the media for the sake of church development," Moon is reported to have once said. "The church is the mind and the media is the body, to reach the external world. We should begin that movement and activity in the United States, because The Washington Times and UPI are headquartered there. Once we establish our organization in the United States, it can be expanded to the world without much alteration."

The UPI article, however, does mention "Moon is considered by members of the religious group, which is based in Seoul, as a messiah who is completing the works of Jesus Christ."

Moon, who was slightly injured in the crash, is recovering, according to officials.

(The writer is a former reporter for the Washington Times, which is also a Unification Church media property).