BROADCASTS.com

In 2013, IBT Media purchased the acclaimed American magazine Newsweek. This acquisition had immediate positive effects for the floundering publication when its new owners announced a return to print. But some wondered about the identity and desired endgame of its new owners. \u201cWho\u2019s Behind Newsweek?\u201d asked a 2014 Mother Jones report. \u201cWhy are the new owners so anxious to hide their ties to an enigmatic religious figure?\u201d The article went on to identify the true owner of the publication as Korean religious figure David Jang, whom CT had profiled two years earlier. \u201cThe Second Coming Christ Controversy\u201d explained that Jang and his followers had founded a number of media outlets including The Christian Post, Christian Today, and the International Business Times. In addition, they\u2019d started a Christian college in California known as Olivet University (no relation to Olivet Nazarene University) and were key influencers in the World Evangelical Alliance. But the group wasn\u2019t just a Korean evangelical ministry expanding its ministry to the West. Sources also alleged that the group had encouraged the belief that Jang was the \u201cSecond Coming Christ.\u201d In the years since CT and Mother Jones\u2019s reporting (much of which revealed illegal work arrangements for Olivet\u2019s primarily immigrant students), IBT Media (now known as Newsweek Media Group) has experienced a number of controversies. Last week, three editors were fired after fighting with management over what they believed had been a breach of journalistic ethics in this story, \u201cWhy is the Manhattan DA looking at Newsweek\u2019s ties to a Christian university?\u201d Ben Dooley, who authored Mother Jones\u2019s piece, joined associate digital media producer and former Christian Post reporter Morgan Lee and editorial director and co-author of CT\u2019s 2012 Jang report Ted Olsen to discuss the group\u2019s bizarre theological claims, how their media properties relate to their desire for influence in the evangelical world, and whether this latest controversy will change anything about how they operate.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices