Military News:
How Troops Get Internal Information
Nathan D. Broshear
Scott D. Williams
Greg A. Hignite
Ken M. Hall, Jr.
A Uses and Gratifications Approach
Lit Review
• Radio Uses and Gratifications (Lazarsfeld and Stanton, 1945)
• Media as a tool (Katz et al., 1974)
• “role” of the audience vs. “rule” of the audience
• Gratifications sought: Information seeking, entertainment, decisional utility, interpersonal utility, parasocial interaction
Hypothesis
H1: Gratifications for possible online base newspaper use will be positively related to gratifications for printed base newspaper use.
RQ1: What are the gratification dimensions for the commander’s access channel and internal website?
General Information Seeking…given that:
Commercial newspapers; highest source of information (O’Keefe & Spetnagel, 1973)
Online newspapers are “functional alternatives” to print (Eveland et al., 2002)
Hypothesis
H2a: Online newspapers and base newspapers will have high entertainment gratifications for military members.
H2b: Internal websites and the commander’s access channel will have little entertainment gratifications.
Entertainment…given that:
Military media is not primarily entertainment…but news can serve an escapist function
(Vincent & Basil, 1997)
Content gratification vs. Process gratification (Stafford & Stafford, 2004)
Hypothesis
H3a: Online base newspapers will have moderate decisional utility gratifications.
H3b: Base newspapers, the commander’s access channel, and internal websites will have no decisional utility gratifications.
Decisional Utility…given that:
92% of Internet users: “Internet is a good place to get information” (Fallows, 2004)
Information for consideration was one of top desired reasons for use (Stafford et al., 2004)
Hypothesis
H4a: Base newspapers, online base newspapers, and commander’s access channel will have a moderate amount of interpersonal utility gratifications.
H4b: The internal base websites will have no interpersonal utility gratifications.
Interpersonal Utility…given that:
85% of Internet users believe Internet is a good place to communicate Besides telephone, Internet offers highest interpersonal gratification
(Fallows, 2004)
“Interpersonal” messages found in non-interactive media(Stafford & Stafford, 2004)
Hypothesis
RQ2: How do military personnel use internal communication forms (internal base website, base newspaper, etc.) to meet the dimension of parasocial interaction?
Parasocial Interaction…given that:
Viewers “identify” and form relationships with on-air talent(Perse & Rubin, 1989)
“Sense of belonging” to larger organization? Identify with military writers?
Hypothesis
RQ3: How does use compare across military and civilian media?
RQ4: What demographics or dimensions of uses and gratifications predict attitude toward the paper?
Predictors of Communications Use…given that:
Air Force studies consistently indicate Airmen would read newspaper if emailed to inbox…but no predictive data
(USAF, 2005)
Newspaper readership tends to increase with age and year in school…same for military? (Vincent & Basil, 1997)
Survey Instrument• Advertised to DoD via limited press release,
phone calls and email to public affairs officials
• Press release contained web address for the online survey
• Survey was posted on SurveyMonkey.com, an unaffiliated civilian online survey service
Methods
Sampling Population
• Active duty military assigned to CONUS bases
Air Force: 261Navy: 63Army: 5Marine Corps: 3Total = 332
• Officers: 13.3%; E5 and above: 56.6%; E4 and below: 30.1%
• Male: 259; female: 73
Methods
Measurement of Uses and Gratifications
• Using the Palmgreen, Wenner, Rayborn (1980) scales of uses and gratifications
• Assessed for base newspapers, base internal websites, Commander’s Access television channel, online base newspaper
• Dimensions measured by seven-point Likert-type scales, with a zero option for never read/watch, using bi-polar adjectives (does not/does apply, etc.)
Methods
Dimensions and reliability• Uses and Grats ranges represent base newspapers, base
internal websites, Commander’s Access TV, and online base newspapers
• Three questions for each dimension
• General information seeking (=.81-.95)
• Decision utility (=.76-.93)
• Entertainment (=.81-.95)
• Interpersonal utility (=.78-.94)
• Parasocial interaction (=.87-.96)
Methods
Exposure and attention civilian and military media
• Measured how often and how much the communication forms were used as a source of information for military
• 10-point exposure scale, ranging from “rarely use” to “frequently use”
• 10-point attention scale, ranging from “no attention” to “close attention”
McLeod & McDonald (1985)
Chaffee & Schleuder (1986)
Methods
Exposure and attention to civilian media • National television news (CBS, ABC, NBC)
• Local television news
• Civilian newspapers
• News magazines (Time, Newsweek)
• Radio talk shows (Rush Limbaugh, etc.)
• Television talk shows
• Television entertainment talk shows (Letterman, etc.)
• Television news magazines (60 Minutes, 20/20)
• Prime time television shows (NCIS, etc.)
• World Wide Web
Methods
Exposure and attention to military media
• Base newspapers
• Base online newspapers (as applicable)
• Online military magazines (Airman, etc.)
• Print military magazines (All Hands, etc.)
• Base websites
• Conversations with others
Methods
Overall attitude about base newspapers
• Assessed with a seven-point, bi-polar, global attitude measure (Burgoon, Cohen, Miller & Montgomery, 1978)
• Bi-polar adjectives: unacceptable/acceptable, foolish/wise, unfavorable/favorable, negative/positive, bad/good, wrong/right.
• Reliability was very good (=.86).
• Attitude was positive (mean=5.74, sd=1.47)
Methods
H1: Gratifications for possible online base newspaper use will be positively related to gratifications for print base newspaper use
H1: Was supported
A correlation matrix was computed and found all correlations positive in nature and statistically significant
(see table 1 in handout)
Results
Table 1: Correlation Matrix Relationship Between Gratification for Print Base Newspaper and Online Base Newspaper
Gratification for print base newspaper Gratification for online base newspaper
General information
Decisional Utility
Entertainment Interpersonal Utility
Parasocial interaction
General Information
.24** (N=194)
Decisional Utility
.35** (N=226)
Entertainment .38** (N=223) Interpersonal Utility
.30** (N=224)
Parasocial Interaction
.36** (N=240)
** statistically significant correlation at p < .01
Results
Results
H2a: Predicted base newspapers and online base newspapers would score high on the entertainment gratification
H2a: Was not supported
H2b: Internal websites and the commander’s access channel will have little entertainment gratifications
H2b: Was supported
Internal base website M = 2.17Commander’s access channel M = 1.53
Results
Mo
derate
1 2 3 54 6 70
N/A
Total
Strong
Hig
h
Low
Weak
None
H3a: Predicted online base newspapers would have high decisional utility
H3a: Was not supported
Results
H3b: Base newspapers, the commander’s access channel, and internal websites will have no decisional utility gratifications
H3b: Was partially supported
Base newspaper M = 3.21Internal base website M = 2.66Commander’s access channel M = 1.65
Results
Mo
derate
1 2 3 54 6 70
N/A
Total
Strong
Hig
h
Low
Weak
None
H4a: Base newspapers, online base newspapers, and commander’s access channel will have a moderate amount of interpersonal utility gratifications
H4a: Was partially supported
Base newspaper M = 3.27Online base newspaper M = 2.81Commander’s access channel M = 1.68
Results
Mo
derate
1 2 3 54 6 70
N/A
Total
Strong
Hig
h
Low
Weak
None
H4b: The internal base website will have little interpersonal utility gratifications
H4b: Was supported
Internal base website M = 2.55
Results
Mo
derate
1 2 3 54 6 70
N/A
Total
Strong
Hig
h
Low
Weak
None
RQ1: What are the gratification dimensions for the commander’s access channel and internal website?
RQ1: Results for Commander’s access & website
Gain information M = 1.87 M = 3.06Interpersonal utility M = 1.68 M = 2.55Decisional utility M = 1.65 M = 2.66Parasocial interaction M = 1.64 M = 2.44Entertainment M = 1.53 M = 2.17
Results
Mo
derate
1 2 3 54 6 70
N/A
Total
Strong
Hig
h
Low
Weak
None
RQ2: How do military personnel use internal communication to satisfy parasocial interaction?
RQ2: Results
Base newspaper M = 3.13Online base newspaper M = 2.51Internal website M = 2.25Commander’s access channel M = 1.64
Results
Mo
derate
1 2 3 54 6 70
N/A
Total
Strong
Hig
h
Low
Weak
None
RQ3: Sought to explain what communication
forms active duty military personnel are
utilizing
Descriptive statistics were used to examine the pattern of means (see table 2 handout)
Results
Table 2 Pattern of Means Depicted for Civilian and Military Media
Use and Attention ____________________________________________________________
Communication Form Mean
Television News 7.48
Internal Base Websites 7.13
Local Television News 6.85
Base Newspaper 5.88
Online Civilian Newspaper 5.47
Print Military Magazine 5.29
Online Military Magazine 5.23
Prime Time TV 5.14
Television Talk Shows 4.64
Civilian Web Pages 4.52
Online Base Newspaper 4.36
TV Entertainment 4.25
TV Magazine Shows 4.14
Radio News 3.88
Talk Radio 3.74
Print Civilian Magazines 2.97 ____________________________________________________________
Note: 1-10 scales measured attention and use added and divided by two. 10-point exposure scale, ranging from “rarely use” to “frequently use,” and 10-point attention scale, ranging from “no attention” to “close attention” (McLeod & McDonald, 1985; Chaffee & Schleuder, 1986).
RQ4: Examined what would predict attitude and use of the base newspaper
Results were computed with a hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to prove this question (see table 3 handout)
Results
Table 3 Significant Demographic and Gratifications Predictors of Attitude Toward Print Base Newspapers Predictor Beta Significance Dependent Variable _________________________________________________________________________ Communication Form:
Base Newspaper Age -.20 .04 Decisional Utility -.40 .08
Discussion
• Purpose of military internal communications
• Huge amount of time and effort spent on internal comm forms
• Fewer members in uniform, tighter budgets, and GWOT make
Discussion
Exposure Rates by Source and Form
0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00
Television News
Internal Base Websites
Local Television News
Base Newspaper
Online Civilian Newspaper
Print Military Magazine
Online Military Magazine
Prime Time TV
Television Talk Shows
Civilian Web Pages
Online Base Newspaper
TV Entertainment
TV Magazine Shows
Radio News
Talk Radio
Print Civilian Magazines
DiscussionDimensional Gratification of Military Media Forms
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00
Base Newspaper
Online Paper
Internal Web
CO's ChannelParasocial Interaction
Interpersonal Utility
Decisional Utility
Entertainment
Information Seeking
Discussion
• Generalizability– Convenience sample– More representative of entire DoD– True Random or Quota Sampling
• Timing– Survey only open six days– Needed more announcement
• Scale– The “Conundrum”…So what does it all mean?
Limitations
Discussion
• Military internal communications are not gratifying troops’ needs
• Exposure is not enough
• Gratifications sought are largely for civilian media
• It’s up to us to figure out how to make our internal communication more gratifying to troops
Discussion
• Exposure to media
• Need for an efficacy study
• “Pushed” media…right to their inbox
• Dimensional gratification for civilian media
• FIGHT……………AND WIN!
Future Directions
Please hold your questions.
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