European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 10, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Stars and stripes faces . Draw Down with vow to Servo readers better col. Mono e. Townsend stripes Watt Botn Europe As Long As troops Aro. The St adj ripes years of service 1942 1992 by Rosemary Sawyer staff writer As the stars and stripes approaches its Golden anniversary this month leaders of the daily newspaper say its Post cold War future hinges on How Well it can serve the troops that remain . Rather than sounding a death Knell recent troop withdrawal announcements have served As a Wake up Call for the military newspaper stimulating managers to figure out ways to better win the business of personnel left behind. A was Long As there Are troops Here there will be a paper Quot said col. Gene e. Townsend stars and stripes commander and publisher. Whether the stars and stripes continues to publish in t dependent on the troop strength numbers currently being bandied about by Congress he said Quot the Issue in t How Many people. There s All kinds of Little communities Back or tutors Check the first Issue of the world wer it stars and stripes As it Rolls off the press in London on april 17, 1942, for distribution the following Day. The paper was a weekly at that time. Home with 20,000 to 30,000 people that have a  one of the keys to attracting and holding readers is the newspaper s establishing credibility with them said editor Bernard a. Zovistoski. Quot what we re trying to do is serve our audience and we want them to have Faith in us that we re putting out a newspaper that they can Trust and rely on As a True. Newspaper not a command information vehicle such As other newspapers in theater and electronic Media a Zovistoski said. To ensure its viability the organization has focused on improving its business operations. Quot there Are things we can do better Quot said Christopher a. Eddings general manager in charge of business operations. Quot granted there might not be quite As Large an audience around and there might not be quite As Large a customer base for the bookstores around but the better we do things the better we will attract a larger percentage Christopher a. De Donga seeks larger percentage of potential customers. Of that customer base that remains and the newspaper readers that remain Quot As a non appropriated fund organization the stars and stripes generates 95 percent of its $74 million operating budget each year. Taxpayers pick up the rest which among other things covers salaries of the two dozen service members assigned to the operation Townsend said he Hopes to avoid layoffs As the organization slims Down but noted that would depend on How quickly the . Population  drops. So far plans for reducing the organizations size correspond to defense department plans to have just 150,000 service members stationed  by 1995. Quot if the draw Downs go faster there s a Point to where you have to keep looking at your Revenue base. You have to streamline your organization Quot Townsend said. Last year the organization was Able to shrink from about a amps Nova Ca by a sign Marks die Entrance to the stars and stripes Headquarters which includes the newspapers editing production main distribution and administration offices. 710 Job slots to 620 mostly through attrition he said. Questions about the operations lifespan come at a time when nearly 100 former stars and stripes employees Are expected to join the paper s current staff in celebrating 50 years of continuous publishing. The gala anniversary will be celebrated april 15-26 with events including a Golf tournament 5 and 10-Kilometer fun runs dinners and a dedication ceremony. The stars and stripes is also planning a 64-Page historical edition that will be inserted in the paper on april 18, the newspaper s actual birthday. Among those expected to attend the festivities Are stripes wants no special privileges and gets none by Rosemary Sawyer staff writer whether covering wars draw Down or any other issues affecting the military the stars and stripes staff reports the news with no special privileges and All the frustrations of other newspapers the newspapers top editor said. Quot its a quandary in a Way because on the one hand we re arguing very strongly that we want to. Have the same kinds of privileges to function As a free press As any newspaper and we can to do that and turn around and ask for special consideration Quot said editor Bernard a. Zovistoski the newspapers relationship to the military especially came into question during the persian Gulf War when officials pondered How the Quot go Quot newspaper should be permitted to cover the fighting. Ultimately it was afforded the same conditions restrictions and privileges As civilian newspapers such As the new York times and the Washington Post. Quot i was very proud of the fact that this newspaper went into the coverage of the War on the same terms exactly As other newspapers in the United states did Quot said Zovistoski who arrived 10 Days prior to the Bernard a. Zovistoski wants readers to Trust what the paper prints. War s air Campaign. Quot asked for that Quot he said. Quot we played in that Arena with the big boys if you will and we did just As Well As  the one thing that set the stars and stripes apart from its stateside counterparts was its readership which More than doubled during the War Quot i was mindful from the very first moment that we were putting out a newspaper that was going to be in the hands of people in the War who might in fact be killed with that newspaper in their hands Quot Zovistoski said. Likewise a special sensitivity was Given to the fact that the paper was being read by their loved ones left behind . Serving these readers presented the staff with an Quot awesome sense of responsibility Quot Zovistoski said. Quot fortunately we never really had to face publishing the amount of Gore for example that might have evolved Over the scenarios that were contemplated before the War actually started. Quot our audience today is still first and Foremost the troops who look to us now As a Hometown newspaper but it is also their spouses and their children and the cadre of Dod civilians employed throughout Europe Quot Zovistoski said. The stars and stripes in t a mouthpiece for the military As More and More readers Are finding out Zovistoski said. He cited recent articles about Friendly fire incidents and abuses in civilian personnel practices As examples of unbiased reporting. Quot it s the kind of Story that s done by every newspaper in the states and so we will do it Quot Zovistoski said. A and i think that Speaks for itself. You won t see some of those stories pursued obviously by publications that Are managed by the military Quot it s an education process he said. Community members need to be educated As to what the newspaper is Quot representing when we come knocking on their door Quot he said. Quot there Are people who think and feel that we ought to do More positive stories and not go after All the stories out there including the negative ones because we Are a quote military  aided by recently drafted editorial guidelines and principles that codify the newspaper s responsibilities and relationship to the military the newspaper expects to publish even More local stories. The goal is to provide readers Quot the kind of news that does t necessarily please the base commander but is important to their the readers lives a Zovistoski said. Plans Call for realigning news Bureau locations to correspond with the greatest troop concentrations and giving special attention to beefing up news coverage in the Mediterranean Region Quot if this newspaper does t provide relevant local news to the people who buy it a and that s throughout the theater from the United kingdom through the med to Turkey a then no one will Quot Zovistoski said. Andy Rooney of lbs 60 minutes and pulitzer prize winning cartoonist Bill Mauldin. In the years since Mauldin and Rooney worked at the paper the stars and stripes itself has been the locus of news reports. European stars and stripes and its counterpart on the other Side of the world Pacific stars and stripes came under scrutiny in the late 1980s when then sen. William Proxmire d-wis., ordered the papers to be investigated based on allegations of censorship in a december 1988 report the general accounting office pointed to censorship problems in the Pacific but said evidence was inconclusive to support such charges  however the report recommended civilian editors to placed at both newspapers because of inherent con flip created by the dual Mission of the newspapers military commanders. The full colonels wore both commander and editor in chief hats. Now their title is commander publisher. The Pentagon also studied the newspapers operations and appointed longtime Newspaperman Philip Foisie to serve As ombudsman responsible for ensuring that no censorship or news management hindered the Iree flow of news at either newspaper. Townsend said he welcomed the changes As a result of the Gao findings the hiring of an ombudsman and other restructuring within the organization there a a greater awareness among the military Community that it it s a news Issue Quot the right protocol is to go to the editor Quot he said. Zovistoski who was the civilian editor hired m Europe As a result of the probe said the arrangement works Well because it allows him to speak in civilian journalism terms with military members Quot without fear of being ordered to do something i Don t want to  Townsend is Quick to Point out however that Many senior officials fully support the newspaper s policy of reporting the whole Story Good or bad. Quot it s important to say that there Are senior Levels of people both in the military and civilian positions who totally support that and will stand with us As an Anchor when others get mad such support dates Back to the newspaper s Early Days he said when Gen. Dwight d. Eisenhower the supreme Allied commander issued a policy that prohibited anyone from meddling with the newspaper s Content and defended it against protests currently about 90,000 military members and civilians in 42 countries of Europe North Africa and the Middle last buy the paper that Eisenhower protected this figure represents about 38 percent of the population authorized to receive the newspaper  each Day with Iho help of a newly hired circulation manager top continued  of a e i i Page 14 b the stars and stripes Friday april 10, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 15