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Happy Birthday Stars and Stripes: A news organization that’s doing it right

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LongLiveNewsCountless newspapers throughout the world have been forced to shut down the presses permanently due to declining readership. Although it faces searing budget cuts in the Department of Defense, the Stars and Stripes newspaper continues to publish compelling content for its readers in 40 countries where U.S. military forces serve. It all started 96 years ago on Feb. 8, 1918, when the first issue was published for troops serving in World War I.

FirstIssueSSThe front page featured this message from John J. Pershing, commander-in-chief of the American Expeditionary Forces:

“The paper written by the men in the service should speak the thoughts of the American Army and the American people for whom the Army has been drawn. It is your paper. Good luck to it.”

The inaugural issue included cartoons, advertisements, sports news and military-specific articles including “Tooth yanking car is touring France,” “Railroading at the front is no picnic” and “Fashion hints for doughboys.” The newspaper’s popularity grew exponentially, reaching 526,000 readers and becoming the primary source of news for service members.

As the war came to a close, the paper followed suit, publishing the last issue on June 13, 1919. Copies of the WWI editions are available online through The Library of Congress’ American Memory Collection. Stars and Stripes resumed printing on April 18, 1942, in the throes of World War II, and has been in continuous operation since.

Today, the paper is published wherever U.S. troops go with stories specific to the theater of operations. It distributes print editions Monday through Thursday, a weekend edition for Europe and the Pacific on Friday, and the Mideast edition Friday through Sunday. The online version was launched in 2004. Smartphone and tablet applications were introduced in 2012 and 2013. According to the Stars and Stripes website, last year it:

    • printed 5 million papers in Europe and the Pacific
    • printed 9.6 million in contingency areas
    • served 9.1 million unique visitors on stripes.com
Why Stars and Stripes Thrives
  • Adheres to high standards of journalistic quality and objective reporting
  • Provides unique content that is specific for the audience and not available in any other newspaper
  • Offers content in multiple platforms
  • Embraces technology by incorporating multimedia and social media
  • Creates camaraderie among service members and veterans across multiple generations

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