Summary Some of the larger news corporations had complained about copyright concerns.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Pentagon announced Friday that its Early Bird compilation of must-read news stories on military operations, weapons programs and budget issues was going dark after half a century in service.
The publication carried great weight among policymakers and commanders tasked with handling the most sensitive US military matters, along with their civilian and uniformed employees, as well as administration officials, lawmakers, reporters and defense manufacturers and lobbyists.
Its three dozen featured articles hinting at the military s rising and falling stars, or programs headed for the chopping board. The Early Bird was read online or delivered via email to an estimated 1.5 to two million people around the world.
Colonel Steven Warren, the Defense Press Operations chief who decided to end the publication, justified the move by saying the Early Bird had "lost its way."
"It became too powerful, it was distorting some news items," he told AFP. The service s stories had often angered officials.
Warren said the news compilation published just before 6:00 am (1000 GMT) every morning had also become anachronistic now that the Internet is filled with personalized news aggregation services, and the once-a-day information also often became outdated in a 24-hour news cycle.
Some of the larger news corporations had complained about copyright concerns because the Early Bird provided full-length articles free of charge without links to the originals, Warren explained.
So news publications lost clicks from potential readers at a time when the news media is increasingly shifting toward online platforms, where competition is fierce.
"Twenty years ago, if you were stationed outside of the US, there was no good way to know what was in the NYT," Warren said, referring to The New York Times.
"The Early Bird filled that niche. Today that s not necessary anymore."
Warren insisted, however, that his office "will continue to make sure that senior leaders continue to receive news and analysis they need to do their job."
But that compilation, the Morning News of Note, has a much smaller readership limited mostly to senior Pentagon and other military leaders.
The Early Bird was first suspended a month ago, on October 1, as the US federal government shutdown got underway, forcing the Pentagon to furlough the employees who compiled the articles.
When the government reopened on October 17, Warren did not immediately relaunch the Early Bird and now has officially decided it should go dark.
