The British publishing giant Reed Elsevier announced they will no longer support defense trade exhibitions, which have been a profitable and growing part of the company's business, according to the the Guardian:
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Anti-arms trade campaigners and writers at Reed Elsevier's scientific journals today welcomed the publisher's move to pull out from organising defence shows. *
*Reed said earlier it would sever its ties to arms fairs, bowing to pressure which included complaints from customers, shareholders and academics writing for its major titles. *
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The owner of trade and specialist publications such as Farmers Weekly and New Scientist had faced a multi-year campaign over its involvement in five defence shows, including one in London.
As the article notes, Reed publishes New Scientist, which does its fair share of defense reporting, as does its aerospace publication, Flight International. Personally, I think the decision is a shame: love 'em or hate 'em, defense trade shows are open to the press and are a good opportunity to ensure transparency in the weapons business (they also provide a great open source opportunity for learning about other countries' capabilities). The shows Reed was involved in weren't exactly back room arms deals with people firing AK-47s in the air; they were legitimate venues for companies involved in defense.
One of the lightning rods was DSEi, the bi-annual London show, which I attended in 2005. It's a truly great show, although there were some companies on the exhibit floor you won't see at U.S. shows (think Pakistan, Iran, and a company selling propaganda services).
The organizers probably didn't do themselves any favors when they told reporters that "this is not an arms bazaar" (note to organizers: if you have to deny that you're an arms bazaar, you've got some serious image problems).
