In 1985, the U.S. Department of Defense spent $162 million – over $448 million in 2023 dollars – in one year to produce and buy periodicals and newspapers for civilians and soldiers.
Sen. William Proxmire, a Democrat from Wisconsin, awarded the Defense Department his Golden Fleece Award for this reckless spending.
According to Proxmire, the Pentagon spent over $119 million on 1.9 million copies of magazines and newspapers like Newsweek and The Washington Post. He claims this makes the Pentagon the largest consumer of newspapers and magazines in the world. An audit found there were very few accounting controls in place for newspapers purchases, leading to runaway spending on newspapers that weren’t needed or read.
Additionally, the Pentagon published periodicals, spending $20 million to publish periodicals such as “Soldiers,” “Army Reserve Magazine,” and “Army Echoes.” Just 10 publications cost over $6.8 million annually to produce.
Overall, the military published 126 civilian publications, 25 safety bulletins, and 40 retiree publications in 1985. Proxmire noted that, “Many of these publications contain similar information and are directed to the same audiences.” The Pentagon itself admitted that many of these publications are nonessential.
Proxmire blamed much of the overlap on certain branches of the military not wanting to read other branches’ publications.
“Each military service, each major component, each recognizable group or category of individuals wants their own publication,” Proxmire said at the time.
While far fewer people today read newspapers, one thing that hasn’t changed is the bloated budgets and insane spending at the Department of Defense.
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