Transcript Military News: How Troops Get Internal Information A Uses and Gratifications Approach Nathan D.

Military News:
How Troops Get Internal Information
A Uses and Gratifications Approach
Nathan D. Broshear
Scott D. Williams
Greg A. Hignite
Ken M. Hall, Jr.
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
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)
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?
Hypothesis
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)
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.
Hypothesis
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)
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.
Hypothesis
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)
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.
Hypothesis
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?
RQ2: How do military personnel use internal communication
forms (internal base website, base newspaper, etc.) to
meet the dimension of parasocial interaction?
Hypothesis
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)
RQ3: How does use compare across military and civilian
media?
RQ4: What demographics or dimensions of uses and
gratifications predict attitude toward the paper?
Methods
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: 261
Navy: 63
Army: 5
Marine Corps: 3
Total = 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 (a=.81-.95)
• Decision utility (a=.76-.93)
• Entertainment (a=.81-.95)
• Interpersonal utility (a=.78-.94)
• Parasocial interaction (a=.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 (a=.86).
• Attitude was positive (mean=5.74, sd=1.47)
Results
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
General
Decisional Entertainment Interpersonal Parasocial
information Utility
Utility
interaction
Gratification
for online
base
newspaper
General
.24** (N=194)
Information
Decisional
.35**
Utility
(N=226)
Entertainment
.38** (N=223)
Interpersonal
Utility
Parasocial
Interaction
** statistically significant correlation at p < .01
.30** (N=224)
.36** (N=240)
Results
H2a: Predicted base newspapers and online base
newspapers would score high on the
entertainment gratification
H2a: Was not supported
Results
H2b: Internal websites and the
commander’s access channel will have
little entertainment gratifications
H2b: Was supported
Internal base website
Commander’s access channel
0
1
2
3
4
5
M = 2.17
M = 1.53
6
7
Results
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
Internal base website
Commander’s access channel
0
1
2
3
4
M = 3.21
M = 2.66
M = 1.65
5
6
7
Results
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
Online base newspaper
Commander’s access channel
0
1
2
3
4
M = 3.27
M = 2.81
M = 1.68
5
6
7
Results
H4b: The internal base website will have
little interpersonal utility gratifications
H4b: Was supported
Internal base website
0
1
2
3
M = 2.55
4
5
6
7
Results
RQ1: What are the gratification dimensions for
the commander’s access channel and internal
website?
RQ1: Results for Commander’s access & website
Gain information
Interpersonal utility
Decisional utility
Parasocial interaction
Entertainment
0
1
2
3
M = 1.87
M = 1.68
M = 1.65
M = 1.64
M = 1.53
4
5
M = 3.06
M = 2.55
M = 2.66
M = 2.44
M = 2.17
6
7
Results
RQ2: How do military personnel use internal
communication to satisfy parasocial
interaction?
RQ2: Results
Base newspaper
Online base newspaper
Internal website
Commander’s access channel
0
1
2
3
4
M = 3.13
M = 2.51
M = 2.25
M = 1.64
5
6
7
Results
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)
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).
Results
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)
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
Print Civilian Magazines
Talk Radio
Radio News
TV Magazine Shows
TV Entertainment
Online Base Newspaper
Civilian Web Pages
Television Talk Shows
Prime Time TV
Online Military Magazine
Print Military Magazine
Online Civilian Newspaper
Base Newspaper
Local Television News
Internal Base Websites
Television News
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
Discussion
Dimensional Gratification of Military Media Forms
Parasocial Interaction
CO's Channel
Interpersonal Utility
Decisional Utility
Internal Web
Entertainment
Information Seeking
Online Paper
Base Newspaper
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
7.00
Discussion
Limitations
• 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?
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
Future Directions
• Exposure to media
• Need for an efficacy study
• “Pushed” media…right to their inbox
• Dimensional gratification for civilian media
• FIGHT……………AND WIN!
Please hold your
questions.