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The Skinny On Those Political “Military Magazines”


Well some troll provided a link to a UPI Headline, “Military mags to call for Rumsfeld ouster” and here is the whole article:

    SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 3 (UPI) — Four publications of the Military Times Media Group plan to call on U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to resign, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

    The Army Times, Air Force Times, Navy Times and Marine Corps Times will issue the call in an editorial scheduled to run Monday, the newspaper said.

    The Chronicle published the text of the editorial on its Web site Friday.

    The editorial says the truth about the war in Iraq “been difficult to come by from leaders in Washington.” Instead, the editorial says President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld have issued “one rosy reassurance after another.”

    The editorial notes that Bush recently said Rumsfeld would keep his job for the remainder of Bush’s term in office.

    “This is a mistake,” the editorial says. “Rumsfeld has lost credibility with the uniformed leadership, with the troops, with Congress and with the public at large.”

    The editorial characterizes military officers as “loyal public promoters of a war policy many privately feared would fail,” and says “they have kept their counsel private, adhering to more than two centuries of American tradition of subordination of the military to civilian authority.”

It is times like these that I earn my salt around here. First, the article implies that four different “military magazines” are calling for Rumsfeld to resign. That is FALSE. These are the same publication except they are “wrapped up” Army Times, Air Force Times, Marine Corps Times, Navy Times.

These are not “professional military publications.” Examples of military professional publications are “Proceedings of the Naval Institute” and “The Officer” by the Reserve Officers Association.

The Army Times….. used to have wide circulations. They are now part of the Gannett Group (USAToday) and the writers for these four “military papers” alos work at USAToday!!!!!

Paid circulation for these “publications” is following all the print papers. Before the internet, soldiers used to buy the “paper” PRIMARILY to get the promotion board lists and schedules.
With the advent of the internet, those lists are now online and it is a waste to wait around to get it in print when they are online and everyone knows the release date in advance.

Look at it another way, Why do men buy Penthouse? Do they buy it to read the “political articles” and yes Penthouse has political articles.

Judging from the “subscription offers” that they have been recently sending me, they will not be in business a long time.

The bottom line is that the “Military Times” weekly papers are not professional publications, circulation is collapsing, and the staff is shared with USAToday.

Why Did Gannett Buy The “Military Times?”

I have “followed” the Army Times the entire time I have been in the Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve. Ever since the publication lost it’s independence in 1997, after the acquisition by Gannett, it’s printed material has broken hard left:

   
The “Military Times” sales department has an extremely inflated, in my opinion, “puff page” on circulation that if you accept as “fact” only has that business generating around $14,000,000 gross a year.

I always wondered why the parent of USAToday, that generates over $2,000,000,000 in annual revenue would buy such a little company. This weekend, I learned why and my six year suspicions were confirmed.

UPDATE:What did Gannet do to The Military Times after George W. Bush was elected? They made Robert Hodierne the Senior Managing Editor!!!

How did the chief spokesman for the U.S. Army in Vietnam describe the work of Robert Hodierne when Mr. Hodierne was a journalist covering the Vietnam war?

   
The worse thing is that this managing editor is proud he was called a traitor!!