Defense News
In Budget Plan, Defense Secretary Proposes Cuts To Weapons Programs
Media coverage of Defense Secretary Robert Gates' budget announcement, which includes reports on all three networks, is receiving generally positive coverage. News accounts cast the proposed cuts not as a fiscal step, but rather as an overhaul designed to put in the military in sync with current threats faced by the US. ABC World News (4/6, story 4, 2:15, Gibson), for example, says "the budget reflects a shift from conventional warfare to meeting the threats from insurgents in Afghanistan and elsewhere." ABC (Raddatz) goes on to call Gates' plan "the most sweeping change in military thinking in generations. ... Gone are programs and equipment that would have seemed untouchable just years ago." NBC Nightly News (4/6, story 4, 0:30, Williams) similarly reported that the plan "would halt production of F-22 fighter jets which cost $140 million each." Gates "would also scrap plans to build a new fleet of helicopters for the President -- as the President himself has suggested." The Hill (4/7, Tiron) reports "the defense secretary acknowledged that there needs to be a new presidential helicopter, but said that the current Marine One still has some life in it, so that the White House can buy some time in making its decision on its replacement."
The CBS Evening News (4/6, story 4, 2:20, Couric) reported "Gates is out to remake the US military. He put out a spending plan today that carries a price tag of more than a half trillion dollars, that's $19 billion more than the current budget." The Financial Times (4/7, A1, Pfeifer, Sevastopulo), in a front-page story titled "Gates Unveils Sweeping Defence Cuts," adds that "analysts said investors saw the news as positive because it had put an end to months of uncertainty."
On its front page, the Los Angeles Times (4/7, A1, Barnes) refers to "a huge reordering of spending priorities. Programs primarily used to fight conventional foes -- other nations that potentially would use technologically advanced weapons – would get less money." But "as important as the cuts, Gates said, are the areas where he is putting additional money." The New York Times (4/7, A1, Bumiller, Drew) reports in a front-page article that Gates also "plans to increase the size of the Army and the Marine Corps," and "more broadly," he "signaled that he hoped to impose a new culture on the Pentagon -- making the system more flexible and responsive to the needs of the troops in the way it chooses and buys weapons."
The Washington Post (4/7, A1, Jaffe, Murray), also on its front page, reports, "The effort to pare back weapons programs that Gates derided as 'truly in the exquisite category' reflects a growing recognition in the Pentagon that the days of soaring defense budgets are over." The plan also "highlights Gates's long-stated desire to increase spending on surveillance systems and other relatively low-tech weapons that are best suited for guerrilla or irregular war, which has traditionally been an industry backwater."
The Wall Street Journal (4/7, A1, Cole, Dreazen), another Washington Post (4/7, A4, Smith) article, USA Today (4/7, Brook), the AP (4/7, Gearan), The Politico (4/7, Dimascio), and the Washington Times (4/7, Scarborough) also report aspects the story.
Budget Could Signal End Of "Contracting Boom." The Washington Post (4/7, A1, Hedgpeth), in a front-page article titled, "Contracting Boom Could Fizzle Out: Jobs Would Return to Pentagon," reports, "The budget would reverse a contracting boom, beginning after the 2001 terrorist attacks, in which the proportion of private contractors grew to 39 percent of the Pentagon's workforce."
