The elite media and the military-civilian culture gap

Armed Forces and Society

Volumn 27, Issue 2, 2001, Pages 183-204

  Wiegand, Krista E ^a   Paletz, David L ^b  

^a DUKE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0035593170     PISSN: 0095327X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0095327X0102700202     Document Type: Article

References (65)

1. Lindsay Cohn, "The Evolution of the Civil-Military 'Gap' Debate." Paper prepared for the TISS Project on the Gap Between the Military and Civilian Society, 1999.
2. These data come from Frank Aukofer and William P. Lawerence, America's Team (Nashville, TN: The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center, 1995).
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid., 178.
5. Ibid., 179.
6. Ibid., 180.
7. Ibid., 182.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid., 183.
10. This finding comes from a Gallup poll conducted by the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation and the Media and Security Project Cantigny Conference Surveys Final Report (August 1999).
11. A recent relevant work is Stephen P. Aubin, Distorting Defense: Network News and National Security (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1998), which indicts the television networks' evening news coverage of national security issues during the 1980s and early 1990s for failing to live up to journalistic standards of fairness, accuracy, and objectivity. Stories lacked context, failed to explain both sides, and were hostile to the Reagan defense buildup. The news focused on "weapons that did not work as advertised, corrupt contractors, and outrageously high defense budgets" (p. 1). The research uses transcripts obtained from the Pentagon's Current News Analysis and Research Service archives. Three main explanations are offered for the inadequate, distorted coverage: the brevity of anchor-only reports ("tells"); the fact that anchors, White House correspondents, and general assignment reporters covered national security more than reporters at the Pentagon and State Department who had the most expertise in the subject; and the attitude and bias, lack of knowledge, and sensationalism of these generalities, the anchors, and the shows' producers. The book can be tendentious, too trusting of the Reagan administration and the military, and its finding that 70 percent of the networks' national security reporting passes the test of good journalistic standards (p. 188) goes underreported. Like some of the Pentagon's weapons, this assault on the media is effective but less deadly than touted.
12. Justifying our choices, the 1999 TISS survey results indicate that 76 percent of the respondents get their information from newspapers. We considered including, but for lack of time decided to omit, news weeklies such as Time and Newsweek, as well as television news and opinion shows, talk radio (Rush Limbaugh, G. Gordon Liddy), and popular culture. We considered coding several opinion magazines, but they published only nine articles about the military in the six months of our study: five -predictably critical-in The Nation, one in the Atlantic Monthly, one in The New Republic, and two in The Weekly Standard - one about Linda Tripp and her employer (the DoD), and the other about the use of ground troops. The fact that only 7 percent of the respondents in the TISS survey reported getting their information about the military from opinion magazines corresponds with the dearth of articles we found.
13. We considered using the Early Bird, a daily compilation that "provides DoD leaders with a window into what the media, and by extension, the American public, know about DoD's mission performance." Because it is essentially a collection of articles from other news publications - both primary and obscure - that the Armed Forces Information Service (AFIS) deems of interest to military personnel, we chose to exclude it from our study. Lindsay Cohn, "The Current News Early Bird." Paper prepared for the TISS project on the Gap Between the Military and Civilian Society, 1999. The AFIS works directly for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, and the Early Bird staff is made up entirely of civilians. Articles are nearly always published in the Early Bird the same day they are being run in their place of origin, although there is sometimes a lag of one day or two.
14. Lisa Daniel, "Uniform Prices Down 8.9%/Soldiers Will Get Better Deals on Required Items," Army Times, 12 October 1998, 3.
15. Associated Press, "Air Force to Shed Cold War Structure and Reorganize Units," The New York Times, 5 August 1998: A16, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
16. Bill Johnson, "The Budget Do-Si-Do: A Frontline Observer Breaks Down the Highly Ritualized Dance Between Lawmakers and the Pentagon Over Military Spending," Armed Forces Journal International (November 1998): 10.
17. Bradley Graham, "Senators Scold Military Chiefs; Top Officers Accused of Failing to Warn Soon Enough of Readiness Decline," The Washington Post, 30 September 1998, A02, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
18. Paul Craig Roberts, "Cultural Demolition in the Military," The Washington Times, 20 November 1998, A20, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
19. John P. Brown, "Obligations of the Citizen-Soldier," Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute July 1998): 50-51.
20. Mark Butler, "The Failure of the Inter-Deployment Training Cycle," Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute (September 1998): 123-125.
21. David Nakamura, "At Military Schools, a Stricter Definition of Learning; Academies Gain Students as Parents Seek More Discipline," The Washington Post, 21 September 21 1998, B01, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
22. Perry M. Smith, "Getting CNN Back on Track: The Issue of Accountability," Armed Forces Journal International (October 1998): 94.
23. Joyce Howard Price, "CNN, Arnett Are Hard Hit by Major Retraction," The Washington Times 3 July 1998, A9, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
24. Stephen Barr, "Adultery Still Unacceptable in Proposed Pentagon Rules; No Officer-Enlisted Fraternization Allowed in Any Service," The Washington Post, 30 July 1998, A17, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
25. E. T. Gomulka, "Until Death Do Us Part?" Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute (November 1998): 49-51.
26. Rowan Scarborough, "Women in Arms Say No Thanks to Combat; Army Study Shows Few Would Volunteer," The Washington Times, 29 September 1998, A1, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
27. Daniel, "Drafting Women Would Double Eligibility Rolls," Army Times, 13 July 1998, 8.
28. Nick Adde, "Homosexuals Must Be Given Chance to Prove Their Fitness for Duty," Army Times, 3 August 1998, 9.
29. Associated Press, "Court Rejects Appeal of Discharged Gay Flier," The New York Times, 20 October 1998, 28, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
30. A news story was major if it appeared on the front page or was 1000 words or more. A moderate news story was between 500 and 1000 words (unless it was a cover story), and anything else was minor.
31. The provider could be a staff writer, guest writer, wire service (AP, Reuters, AFP), a combination thereof, or not stated.
32. Percentages for coded categories are of the total number of articles coded; articles counted but uncoded are excluded.
33. "The Insatiable Pentagon," The New York Times, 1 October 1998, A30, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
34. Lawrence J. Korb, "Money to Burn at the Pentagon," The New York Times, 25 September 1998, A27, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe.
35. David Stout, "The Nation; An Army as Good as Its People, and Vice Versa," The New York Times, 26 July 1998, D4, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
36. Myers, "Scandal Kept in Military Perspective," The New York Times, 1 December 1998, A27, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
37. Graham, "Military Readiness, Morale Show Strain; Budget Contract; Deployments Expand," The Washington Post, 13 August 1998, A1, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
38. ". . . And Military Pensions," The Washington Post, 10 October 1998, A22, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
39. "Wrong on Military Pensions," The Washington Post, 29 December 1998, C6, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
40. Vogel, "At Fort Meade, Military Gears Up Media Machine," The Washington Post, 10 October 1998, B3, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
41. Ernest Blazar, "Inside the Ring," The Washington Times, 6 December 1998, A4, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
42. Blazar, "Inside the Ring," The Washington Times, 25 October 1998, A5, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
43. David G. Bolgiano, "Sex and the Commander-in-Chief," The Washington Times, 17 September 1998, A23, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
44. Diana Beradocco, "Force Health Protection: Tying Gulf War Lessons to Policies for the Future," Armed Forces Journal International (December 1998): 28.
45. "Seeking Stability For USAF's Warriors," Armed Forces Journal International (November 1998): 29.
46. Ibid., 28.
47. Johnson, "The Budget Do-Si-Do: A Frontline Observer Breaks Down the Highly Ritualized Dance Between Lawmakers and the Pentagon Over Military Spending," Armed Forces Journal International (November 1998): 10.
48. Rep. James V. Hansen, "It's Time for New Investment: The Case for Congress to Take the Lead in Significantly Increasing Defense Spending," Armed Forces Journal International (October 1998): 12.
49. Roos, "Commander-in-Chief Clinton: The Military Has Already Been Marched Down the Moniker Road," Armed Forces Journal International (November 1998): 4.
50. Eric Okerstrom, "No Home on the Range," Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute (November 1998): 52-55.
51. John T. Natter, Alan Lopez, and Doyle K. Hodges, "Listen to the JOs: Why Retention is a Problem," Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute (October 1998): 58-62.
52. Owen West, "You Can't Fool the Troops," Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute (September 1998): 52-54.
53. John Gamboa, "The Cost of Revolution," Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute (December 1998): 12.
54. Michael Dunaway, "Military Virtue & the Future of the Naval Service," Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute (December 1998): 76-79.
55. Martha S. Dunne, "Getting Back to Basics," Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute (September 1998): 101-103.
56. Karen Jowers, "Sexually Explicit Debate Continues/Defense Review of Adult Magazines, Tapes Taking Longer Than Expected," Army Times, 14 September 1998, 6.
57. "The Budget Could Have Been a Lot Worse," Army Times, 19 October 1998, 37.
58. "What Really Matters," Army Times, 14 December 1998, 34.
59. According to the 1999 Cantigny data, less than one half of the public said they wanted to know about any of the various types of military stories listed, such as about physical damage (46%) or human casualties (45%), caused by U.S. military action; terrorism in the U.S. (49%); military readiness (48%); or military quality of life (43%). Even fewer (28%) wanted to know about military sex scandals," Cantigny Report, 1.
60. David L. Paletz, The Media in American Politics (New York: Longman, 1999), chaps. 10-12; also, Thomas E. Patterson, Out of Order (New York: Knopf, 1993).
61. David L. Paletz, The Media in American Politics (New York: Longman, 1999), chaps. 10-12; also, Thomas E. Patterson, Out of Order (New York: Knopf, 1993).
62. This discussion is based on David C. King and Zachary Karabell, "An American Anomaly: The Evolution of Public Trust in the Military from Tet to Tailhook." Paper presented at the Duke University Political Science Department, 29 January 1999.
63. King and Karabell, 33.
64. Cantigny Report.
65. Ole Holsti, "A Widening Gap Between the U.S. Military and Civilian Society? Some Further Evidence 1998-1999." Paper presented at the TISS Consortium, July 1999.