Washington (AFP)
Citing a concern for savings, the Pentagon announced Monday its intention to close the printed version of its daily newspaper Stars and Stripes, the first edition of which dates from 1861, in the midst of the American Civil War.
"We have decided that in modern times, paper newspapers are no longer the way we communicate," said Defense Department chief financial officer Elaine McCusker, presenting the Pentagon's 2021 budget which provides operating savings of $ 5.7 billion.
She was asked about information from the Wall Street Journal on Monday about this daily newspaper specializing in military affairs, partially funded by the Pentagon but on the independent editorial line.
The ministry "is looking to cut its subsidy to (Stars and Stripes) and the proposed changes are intended to reflect the public's transition from print to more widely accessible media," said the Wall Street Journal, citing a Pentagon document. on the budget.
The presentation Monday by the Ministry of Defense of the draft budget 2021 does not mention this newspaper and the Pentagon official did not specify the amount of subsidy targeted by the savings.
In a tweet, the mediator of Stars and Stripes ("The star banner", in French), defended the independence of his daily life.
"The mission of Stars and Stripes is not to communicate the message of the ministry or the military command, but to be an independent publication (...) in the service of the armed forces, more particularly the deployed forces," he said. he noted.
The daily, which claims a million views a day, has several paper editions printed around the world, including in Japan, South Korea, Germany and Italy, where the United States has large military bases.
Some 12,000 copies are distributed daily on bases where internet access is more difficult or even prohibited for security reasons. It is thus printed in Iraq and Jordan, for the American forces engaged in the fight against the Islamic State group in the region.
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