Comings and Goings: Farewell to Doug Burton
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We wish to inform you that Doug Burton, who has served as Director of Public Affairs for FFWPU USA for four years, has stepped down as Chief Editor of Unificationnews.com and Familyfed.org. Shinyoung C. Simonds, Editorial Director for FFWPU USA, will assume his responsibilities. Doug’s new role involves public relations for the Family Federation, and handling media engagements and press inquiries from his home office in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Doug Burton
Having served as an editor for the Washington Times for 19 years and as a State Department press officer in Iraq for two years, Doug returned to the United States in 2007 looking for a new challenge. He says that he welcomed the opportunity to join the FFWPU USA headquarters staff in Washington, D.C. in 2008 to help fight the war of ideas on the side of True Parents. Doug wrote what he called “spank letters” to errant media that had insulted the church, and created professional press releases to promote the positive side of the Holy Marriage Blessing, Middle East Peace Initiative (MEPI) and other Family Federation programs and events. The result is that dozens of newspapers and many television stations have demonstrated respectful attention towards the church.
Notable achievements of Doug’s public affairs work is several religious freedom events sponsored by Survivors Against Forced Exit (SAFE) in 2012 that were covered by Fox News affiliates and other TV stations. Later that year, Doug worked closely with a British film team that produced documentaries for the BBC and for the TLC network on the path to the Blessing for young couples
“It has been an honor to work for the national church headquarters team these many years and I look forward to helping even more from my new posting in Washington, D.C.” says Doug. “I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked closely with headquarters’ leadership and staff—all of whom have treated me with kindness and deep respect.”
Doug is currently working on PR-related projects that include an extensive story about the upcoming Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony with ABC Nightline.
We are grateful to Doug Burton for his contributions to God’s Providence and wish him great success in his new pursuits.
Sincerely,
Michael Balcomb
President