Liberty news changing with the times

  • Published
  • By Brig. Gen. Robert P. Steel
  • 48th Fighter Wing commander
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --   The old saying goes, "The only thing consistent is change." Most of us in the Air Force probably agree with this adage, based on the past year and year ahead of transformation, change and restructuring our service is going through. Here at RAF Lakenheath, we're looking at another big change -- the move from a hard-copy, weekly base newspaper to a responsive, on-line news service. Most of you hopefully read last week's Jet 48, where the 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs staff shared the vision for "Liberty Live," soon available on www.lakenheath.af.mil. Replacing the Jet 48 after 60 years of publication may seem like a tough pill to swallow - it certainly was for me - but if you think about it, most of us already get our news from the Web. Each morning, I surf through CNN.com, washingtonpost.com, and nytimes.com on the Web, as well as Aim Points and AF.mil, to monitor news and information pertinent to our military mission and nation. Why should it be any different to click on one more favorite and read about what happened here on base each day?

Obvious benefits of "Liberty Live" include a much faster delivery time and more coverage of our Liberty warriors and units. You won't have to wait up to nine or 10 days until Friday's Jet 48 comes out to read about the Lakenheath High School basketball game that happened the week prior, or see your group's change of command ceremony featured. Instead, on line, you can read about it within a day or two.

Although my generation had to adapt and evolve with the Internet over the years, the majority of our Airmen, who are under the age of 30, have lived with the Web since they started grade school. Statistics show 76 percent of military age people, ages 18 to 50, use the Internet for news gathering alone; 100 percent of RAF Lakenheath Airmen have e-mails at work, with 81 percent of AF member having an Internet connection at home, too.

For family members, community leaders, retirees and others who may not be completely comfortable with turning to a computer to get information, there is still light at the end of the tunnel. A new weekly publication, combining stories and photos from both RAFs Lakenheath and Mildenhall, will be contracted out to a civilian publisher. It won't be an Air Force product any longer, but should fill the information gap for those more comfortable with holding a newspaper in their hands.

In the meantime, I encourage everyone to bookmark "Liberty Live" on their Web favorites, and take some time to send in feedback and ideas to our Public Affairs staff at 48fw.pa@lakenheath. af.mil. In fact, starting next week, if you want to find out my answers to the action line, you'll have to go on line to read them!

In a word of change, one thing remains constant--the need for news and information. Liberty Live is our solution. Stay tuned for more features and highlights in the coming weeks, as well as the final Jet 48 edition on Feb. 23.