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Time - Man of the Year
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Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso
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1992-09-10
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THE WEEK, Page 20BUSINESSDoing God's Work?
Televangelist Robertson bids for a beleaguered news agency
TV preachers normally have their hands full trying to save
human souls. So when televangelist Pat Robertson stepped forward
last week to attempt to save the venerable soul of United Press
International from bankruptcy, he prompted a flurry of
questions. Just what does Robertson, founder of the Christian
Broadcasting Network and a onetime presidential hopeful, see in
the tottering wire service, which may soon be his for a paltry
$6 million? Perhaps a good business deal. Or a chance to
proselytize. Shortly after making his surprise bid, the savvy
televangelist promised that he would not convert U.P.I. to a
Christian news agency. But in a cbn appearance, Robertson said
the purchase might be "a little opportunity" for God to touch
American life.
Robertson started his empire in 1959 with WYAH, a
ramshackle station in Portsmouth, Va., whose call letters stand
for Yahweh (God in Hebrew). Since then, he has masterfully mixed
the 700 Club, a religious talk show, with the Family Channel,
a 24-hour oasis of clean entertainment, to build a lucrative
media operation, which U.P.I.'s newsgathering would neatly
complement. Robertson has one month to review the agency's
books, after which he can adjust his offer or drop it
completely.