and that's the way it is

Since DC VELOCITY was launched in 2003, this page has been filled by the carefully crafted prose of Chief Editor Peter Bradley. With the introduction of our new journal, CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly, the editorial responsibilities for DC VELOCITY have been shifted.

So as I prepare to become the gatekeeper for DC VELOCITY's editorial content, the timing was perfect to hear from one of our country's most pre-eminent journalists—the legendary Walter Cronkite. As I listened to Cronkite speak during the keynote session at RedPrairie's user conference last month, I realized that there was a direct correlation between the editorial standards here at DCV and those maintained by Cronkite during his 18 years at the anchor desk for the CBS Evening News.

Cronkite's commentary defined issues and events in America for almost two decades. He made his name by delivering the news in an honest and trustworthy fashion. He holds integrity in the highest regard, and refers to honesty as the "bedrock" of journalistic success. If that element isn't there, "the journalist will disappear quickly," says Cronkite, who retired from the Evening News in 1981. Here at DC VELOCITY, we promise not to waver from Cronkite's "bedrock" standards.

Cronkite says the most difficult moment in his broadcasting career was delivering the news that John F. Kennedy had been killed in 1963. It was the first time an assassination had been covered on live TV, and Cronkite was clearly moved when he delivered the sad news that day. On other topics, he staunchly opposes the war in Iraq, as he did the Vietnam War, and he's captivated by the United States' travels to space. He is still upset with NASA for not allowing him to do a news broadcast from space.

I'll opt to do my reporting from the home office and from the various industry events where we gather so much of our news. As journalists covering logistics and the supply chain, we typically don't have to deliver the sobering and world-impacting news that Cronkite brought to his viewers each night. Just the same, we recognize that the information we provide is crucial to our readers' ability to perform their jobs and make their companies more efficient. We take that responsibility seriously, as evidenced by this month's cover story on the logistics challenges of delivering combat rations to our troops in Iraq.

In less than five years we've become the industry leader in bringing you compelling and cutting-edge editorial by adhering to Cronkite's "bedrock" standard.

And that's the way it is.