You need know we now have three news rooms: one in Germany, one in Tokyo, and one in Washington, D.C. If one is applying for a job in D.C., all the caveats and perks that go with work inside the Beltway apply. If one is applying for a job in Germany or Tokyo, just remember the work is in a foreign culture, but it remains essentially U.S. journalism. Also, the staffs in Germany and Japan are being streamlined into news gathering operations only. Most of the editing and all of the page production will eventually be done in Washington.
All but a few editing jobs in the foreign offices are likely to be short-term (12-18 months). In the news rooms both in Griesheim, Germany, and Tokyo, Japan, little is different than what one would find in a typical U.S. news room and all business is conducted in English. Most of our reporters are hired from U.S. newspapers. They tend to be people looking for an overseas adventure, and Stripes certainly provides that.
The biggest concern focuses around the U.S. military. We circulate only on U.S. military installations overseas. The bulk of our readers are U.S. military personnel and their dependents. Our focus, of necessity, is on the U.S. military, so one’s familiarity with the military and its thinking and its actions becomes a major factor.
A major misconception, however, is that we are a “military newspaper.” We are an independent, First Amendment newspaper, authorized by the Department of Defense but in no way officially speaking for the department. We try hard to be the GIs' “hometown newspaper away from home.”
There are excellent online resources, most of which can be accessed eventually from the Department of Defense site. Of course, this is an official site. I’ve also collected some key government sites.
Most of the military branches have their own official sites. If you search hard enough, you’ll discover that almost every U.S. military installation now has a web site, including most of the ships at sea.
I’ve also collected some non-official sites, the most interesting of which might be: http://www.enlisted.com/. You can link to more by going here.
A fascinating historical site devoted to those journalists who covered WWII as “The Writing 69th” is here.
This is a difficult question. The U.S. military has been a leader among U.S. institutions in racial integration. And while it may be argued the military has a long way to go, they are ahead of most civilian organizations such as private military colleges when it comes to gender integration.
Certainly, our military is better educated today than ever. Detractors will quickly point to a variety of “glass ceilings” in the military. The all-volunteer military is often criticized for enhancing the gap between haves and have-nots; for example, officers have and enlisted have not.
The chain-of-command structure of the military demands merit advancement, but many argue it also supports inflated evaluations and a system that suppresses criticism from below.
In most political ways, it’s little different from the civilian corporate world. There also remains a distinctive “macho” mentality in many areas of the military that is counter to more progressive thinking. As with all American institutions, there are positive and negative aspects to the military and its people.
This is probably the single-most prevalent question of our operation.
Even when it is not in the forefront of consciousness, it lurks consistently in the background. We operate with a perpetual tension between journalists who are professionally dedicated to the “free flow of information” and military personnel who are trained in public affairs to “control the flow of information.”
A study done by The Freedom Forum resulted in a book titled, “America’s Team: The Odd Couple.” That says it in a nutshell. The military and the press will constantly be at odds over some items of information. We who operate on the journalists’ side strive to constantly remind military personnel that they are citizens even before they are soldiers, sailors, airmen or Marines.
They also have the argument that without them few Americans would enjoy the citizenship they enjoy. Constant tension. It is, however, little different than the tensions that exist between reporters and other branches of government that they cover or business reporters and the corporations and businesses they cover.
No doubt about it: The First Amendment. Lots of people think this is an idealistic concern and that nobody challenges questions of the amendment anymore, but that’s simply not so.
The four basic freedoms the amendment protects, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and freedom of assembly and dissent are constantly under subtle attack by self-aggrandizing and misguided influences.
My favorite anecdote on this comes from Sen. John McCain, who was a POW in Vietnam. When he was released, he was asked how he felt while in captivity about all the people in the U.S. who opposed the war and were critical of the work he and others were doing. McCain’s classic reply was: “I thought that’s what we were fighting for.”
Many things. For one, I learned that the “Ugly American” syndrome is grossly overplayed and grabs most of the headlines. Americans often act ignorant and stupid in foreign cultures, but generally Americans are liked and appreciated, especially in those places where we have a military presence.
On the other hand, I had to see it to believe it that American popular cultural influence is everywhere. I’m not sure whether this is good or bad. I’d like America to be known and appreciated around the world for something more than McDonald’s, Marlboros and Madonna.
It’s also appalling, and I stand as guilty as most, that Americans are so poor in their mastery of foreign languages. Every educator should be forced to live and do business in a foreign country for a year or two.
I had to do lots of driving in Tokyo. Narrow streets with the steering wheel on the right hand side.
Japanese are noted for the inordinate politeness. I learned as a driver in Tokyo that if one is not courteous, one is going nowhere. Driving the narrow streets is a constant interplay of yielding and being yielded to. The Japanese bow even when driving and have developed a near language with signaling by headlights.
My worst nightmare was coming to a toll booth and being absolutely, totally out of yen. For 10 minutes I tried to offer the toll taker American money or to explain my empty-pocketed plight. He finally waved me on. The next day, I tried to repay a different toll taker. He smiled at me, refused my money and waved me on.
One day during the visit of then President George Bush, I was pulled over at a police road-block. The officer looked into my car and at my U.S. Forces driver’s license and proclaimed in exasperated but good English, “It’s because of your president we have to do this.”
Copyright 1998, Thomas L. Mangan
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