Your audience chooses you over the press releases because you sound like a human, trim out the boring items and more obvious propaganda, place things in context

Your audience chooses you over the press releases because you sound like a human, trim out the boring items and more obvious propaganda, place things in context, reduce jargon/simplify things, also report on other things the pentagon doesn't have press releases about, and throw in some jokes. You choose to keep at it because you think military stuff is pretty neat; you get paid by the view; getting briefings from the pentagon makes you seem important to yourself and others; and you like being a celebrity (albeit a very minor one)