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eyes turn to Jane's
Leading trade publication for the business of war
By Jamie L. Jones
Jane’s Defence Weekly is, strictly speaking, a business-to-business publication.
The business is war.
When military operations and foreign intelligence become everyone’s business, everyone from CIA spooks to the mainstream press looks to the British trade title for the latest in military and intelligence news.
Jane’s Defence Weekly is one of several trade titles that provide information and news to the military, intelligence, defense and transport communities, and as one would expect, these same communities are the source of much of the publication's reporting, which in turn makes it a must-read for journalists attempting a quick bone-up on the Afghanistan situation.
Since the terrorist attacks, Jane’s has fielded as many media requests as intelligence reports, and editors are making frantic rounds on the interview circuit.
Jane’s web site (www.janes.com) also caters to the intelligence-hungry, registering more than eight million hits in the past month—five million more than usual.
Before the war on terrorists is over, Jane’s may well follow Al-Qaeda and Tajikistan into the household vernacular.
"Running any newsweekly magazine is going to be a bit hectic. But to be sure when there’s a major international event, it does ratchet up the pressure," says Clifford Beal, editor in chief of Jane’s Defence Weekly.
"Life goes on, and you also have to cover what’s going on in the Indian subcontinent and Africa. The final bit of pressure comes from the general media, which always comes to Jane’s."
These days, apart from fielding the press inquiries, the staff is all intent on preparing for how it will cover the conflict, whichever form it takes.
"We set up a crisis team to figure out how to handle the situation," says Beal.
"And we’ve already set up an operation center at Jane’s, where we’ve launched full-scale maps of Afghanistan."
Notice that the language is that of the military, not of journalists. A newsroom is an operations center, reporters are a crisis team, and instead of copy, stories are called intelligence.
"You do have to mirror the audience you’re trying to appeal to, so we do try to organize ourselves along those lines," says Beal.
"The way we move copy through the organization very much mirrors the military—it comes in as raw intelligence and leaves as a refined product."
Very military, too, is the impenetrable web of interrelated publications and products that falls under the Jane’s umbrella, resembling in some ways the floor plan of the Pentagon.
Jane’s Information Group publishes the 25,000-circulation Defence Weekly (note the British spelling), which is considered its flagship.
Jane’s also publishes dozens of magazines and newsletters like the International Defence Review, the Airport Review, Asian Infrastructure, Intelligence Review and the Islamic Affairs Analyst. Jane’s publishes in print, on the web, on CD-ROM and on wireless devices.
Jane’s is also widely known for its "yearbooks"—detailed, pictorial directories of current fighting ships, weaponry and aircraft, among others.
The magazines are distributed both to subscribers and to a controlled circulation in the defense industry and military organizations all over the world. Despite public interest, Jane’s isn’t likely to pop up on newsstands any time soon.
A subscription to Jane’s Defence Weekly costs Americans $350. A subscription to the updated online edition with archives costs $1040, and the CD-ROM edition with archives costs $945.
Still, anyone can buy a subscription.
"There’s a wide demand for it—but we don’t have a problem with that," says Karen Heffer, publishing director of Jane’s news titles.
European readers account for 41 percent of the readership of Jane’s Defence Weekly, says Heffer. North America commands 23 percent, while 20 percent comes from Asia and 6 percent from the Middle East, 5 percent from Africa, 4 percent from South America and 1 percent from Central America and the Caribbean.
Jane’s international following means that readers potentially come from all sides of the same conflict.
That’s not necessarily dangerous, since Jane’s doesn’t publish classified information.
"We call it sensitive," says Beal. "Obviously we don’t deal in classified information. We don’t spy."
Beal says that Jane’s Defence Weekly maintains its objectivity through a strict policy of impartiality—no easy task for a magazine that could be read by both President Bush and Osama bin Laden.
The publications are also subject to a British law that protects intelligence pertaining to the United Kingdom and its allies: the Official Secrets Act.
"Because we’re published in the U.K., we’re subject to a draconian bit of legislation called the Official Secrets Act," says Beal.
"It dates from World War I, but it’s never been repealed because each government that comes into power finds that it has its usefulness."
Beal says that Jane’s Defence Weekly has never had problems meeting the requirements of the act.
Jane’s competes for advertisers and readers with a number of web sites and with the U.S.-based Defense News.
Advertisers in Jane’s Defence Weekly come from the defense industry, says Heffer: weapons manufacturers, systems specialists, communications companies and the like.
October 2, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Jamie L. Jones is a staff writer for Media Life.
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