Hardships at Home: The Portrayal of Military Families in Traditional,Military Community,and Military-Focused News Publications

Abstract

Scholars have described a divide between military and civilian culture, often focusing on the relationship between civilian communities and the Armed Forces and its veterans. Equally important are the families of military personnel. News media are an important source of information about military society for many U.S. civilians. This study examined how three types of news publications portrayed military families on Twitter between 2010 and 2020. News content was drawn from 21 outlets that cater to (1) general audiences, (2) military communities, and (3) military personnel. News outlets often associated military families with terms related to hardship, including substandard housing, financial problems, and other issues. In 1,052 posts, news outlets used five frames to describe military families: hardship, support, education, honor, and politics. General news outlets focused on politics, covering PR events staged by politicians. News outlets in military communities focused on support and providing readers resources to help navigate life in a military family. News outlets catering to military personnel focused on hardships.

Keywords

news news media military family military families civil–military divide civil–military gap

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Absher

(2021, June 15). Defense enrollment eligibility reporting system (DEERS). Military.com. https://www.military.com/benefits/tricare/defense-enrollment-eligibility-reporting-system-deers.html

Alwine

(2020, January 4). What do employers really think of military spouse job seekers? Military Families Magazine. https://militaryfamilies.com/military-employment/what-do-employers-really-think-of-military-spouse-job-seekers/

Beggin

(2020, September 5). The fight over defunding Stars and Stripes, explained. Vox. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/9/5/21424085/trump-fight-defunding-stars-and-stripes-newspaper

Beynon

(2020, July 2). House committee’s version of defense bill would secure funding for Stars and Stripes. Stars and Stripes. https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/house-committee-s-version-of-defense-bill-would-secure-funding-for-stars-and-stripes-1.635990

Blue Star Families. (2020). Military family lifestyle survey. https://bluestarfam.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/BSF_MFLS_CompReport_FULL.pdf

Bonessi

D. M.

(2019, April 16). What does it mean to have a military base in your neighborhood? National Public Radio. https://wamu.org/story/19/04/16/what-does-it-mean-to-have-a-military-base-in-your-neighborhood/

Cacciatore

M. A.

Scheufele

D. A.

Iyengar

(2016). The end of framing as we know it. . . and the future of media effects. Mass Communication and Society, 19(1), 7–23.

Carpenter

(2007). U.S. elite and non-elite newspapers portrayal of the Iraq War: A comparison of frames and source use. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 84(4), 761–776.

Casula

Rangarajan

Shields

(2021). The potential of working hypotheses for deductive exploratory research. Quality & Quantity, 55(5), 1703–1725.

10.

Chandra

Lara-Cinisomo

Jaycox

L. H.

Tanielian

Han

Burns

R. M.

Ruder

(2011). Views from the homefront: The experiences of youth and spouses from military families. RAND Health Quarterly, 1(1), Article 12.

11.

CNN [@CNN]. (2014, March 14). Help CNN pay tribute to the sacrifices of military families [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/CNN/status/444572350634143744

12.

Council on Foreign Relations. (2020). Demographics of the U.S. military. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/demographics-us-military

13.

Cox

Albright

D. L.

(2014). The road to recovery: Addressing the challenges and resilience of military couples in the scope of veteran’s mental health. Social Work in Mental Health, 12(5–6), 560–574.

14.

Cozza

S. J.

Chun

R. S.

Polo

J. A.

(2005). Military families and children during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Psychiatric Quarterly, 76(4), 371–378. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-005-4973-y

15.

Cruz Lemar

. (2020). Thanks or pity? How assumptions about veterans widen the civil-military gap. War on the Rocks. https://warontherocks.com/2020/11/thanks-or-pity-how-assumptions-about-veterans-widen-the-civil-military-gap/

16.

Department of Defense. (2020). Spotlight: Military family support. https://www.defense.gov/Explore/Spotlight/Military-Family-Support/

17.

Dillman Carpentier

F. R

. (2017). Priming. In Rossler

Hoffner

C. A.

van Zoonen

(Eds.), The International encyclopedia of media effects (pp. 1–13). John Wiley.

18.

Eckhart

N. R.

Laha-Walsh

Parrott

Albright

D. L.

(2021). Presidential and gubernatorial tweets involving military servicemembers and veterans. Journal of Veterans Studies, 7(1), 36–45.

19.

Entman

R. M.

(1993). Framing: Towards clarification of a fractured paradigm. In McQuail

(Ed.), McQuail’s reader in mass communication theory (pp. 390–397). SAGE.

20.

Griffith

(2020). Family readiness groups: Helping deployed Army National Guard soldiers and their families. Journal of Community Psychology, 48(3), 804–817.

21.

King

P. T.

(2014, July 21). Home lines: Getting started in a new community. The Leaf Chronicle. https://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/news/local/fort-campbell/2014/07/21/home-lines-getting-started-new-community/12956145/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

22.

King

P. T.

(2015a, June 22). Home lines: Decorating tips for military families. The Leaf Chronicle. https://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/news/local/fort-campbell/2015/06/22/home-lines-decorating-tips-military-families/29110329/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

23.

King

P. T.

(2015b, July 6). Home lines: Military family travel zig-zags. The Leaf Chronicle. https://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/news/local/fort-campbell/2015/07/06/home-lines-military-family-travel-zigs-zags/29775587/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

24.

Kleykamp

Hipes

(2015). Coverage of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the US media. Sociological Forum, 30(2), 348–368.

25.

Kovach

Rosenstiel

(2021). The elements of Journalism, Revised and Updated 4th Edition: What newspeople should know and the public should expect. Crown.

26.

The Leaf-Chronicle [@LeafChronicle]. (2015, December 12). Group donates 500 meals to military families [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/LeafChronicle/status/676909047300366336

27.

Maucione

(2018, February 5). DoD wants to bridge the military-civilian divide. Federal News Network. https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook/2018/02/dod-wants-to-bridge-the-military-civilian-divide/

28.

Mitchell

Gottfried

Barthel

Sumida

(2018). Distinguishing between factual and opinion statements in the news. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2018/06/18/distinguishing-between-factual-and-opinion-statements-in-the-news/

29.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2019). Strengthening the military family readiness system for a changing American society. https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/the-well-being-of-military-families

30.

Nelson

J. L.

(2021). Imagined audiences: How journalists perceive and pursue the public. Oxford Scholarship Online.

31.

The New York Times. (2022). Media kit: Audience snapshop. https://nytmediakit.com/

32.

Oliver

M. B.

Raney

A. A.

Bryant

(Eds.). (2019). Media effects. Routledge.

33.

Osborne

N. J.

(2014). Veteran ally: Practical strategies for closing the military-civilian gap on campus. Innovative Higher Education, 39(3), 247–260.

34.

Parrott

Albright

D. L.

Eckhart

(2022). Veterans and media: The effects of news exposure on thoughts, attitudes, and support of military veterans. Armed Forces & Society, 48(3), 503–521.

35.

Parrott

Albright

D. L.

Eckhart

Laha-Walsh

(2020). Mental representations of military veterans: The pictures (and words) in our heads. Journal of Veterans Studies, 6(3), 61–71.

36.

Pew Research Center. (1998). Local versus national news. https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/1998/07/13/local-versus-national-papers/

37.

Pew Research Center. (2011). The military-civilian gap: Fewer family connections. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2011/11/23/the-military-civilian-gap-fewer-family-connections/

38.

Pew Research Center. (2019). Americans’ trust in military, scientists relatively high; fewer trust media, business leaders, elected officials. https://www.pewresearch.org/ft_19-03-21_scienceconfidence_americans-trust-in-military/

39.

Pew Research Center. (2021). Social media fact sheet. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/

40.

Powers

(2018). First duty and future assignments in the military. The Balance: Careers. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-the-recruiter-never-told-you-3332708

41.

Reynolds

(2015, March 29). Home front operations: “Entitlement” stereotype hurts military family. The Fayetteville Observer. https://www.fayobserver.com/story/news/military/2015/03/29/home-front-operations-entitlement-stereotype/22259643007/

42.

Robinson

J. G.

(2019). The audience in the mind’s eye: How journalists imagine their readers. Columbia Journalism Review. https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/how-journalists-imagine-their-readers.php

43.

Sands

(2019). Local news is more trusted than national news — but that could change. Knight Foundation. https://knightfoundation.org/articles/local-news-is-more-trusted-than-national-news-but-that-could-change/

44.

Shearer

(2021). More than eight-in-ten Americans get news from digital devices. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/01/12/more-than-eight-in-ten-americans-get-news-from-digital-devices/

45.

Sherwood

Marjoribanks

Nicholson

(2019). Public relations and journalism. In Sherwood

Marjoribanks

Nicholson

(Eds.), Oxford research encyclopedia of communication (pp. 1–22). Oxford University Press.

46.

Shoemaker

P. J.

(1996). Hardwired for news: Using biological and cultural evolution to explain the surveillance function. Journal of Communication, 46(3), 32–47.

47.

Shoemaker

P. J.

Reese

S. D.

(1996). Mediating the message (pp. 781–795). Longman.

48.

Society of Professional Journalists. (2014). Code of ethics. https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

49.

Sprinklr. (2022). Sentiment analysis. https://www.sprinklr.com/cxm/sentiment-analysis/

50.

Stars and Stripes. (2022). About stars and stripes. https://ww2.stripes.com/about-us

51.

Sullivan

K. S.

Dodge

McNamara

Gribble

Keeling

Taylor-Beirne

Kale

Goldbach

Fear

N. T.

Castro

C. A.

(2021). Perceptions of family acceptance into the military community among US LGBT service members: A mixed-methods study. Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health, 7(s1), 90–101.

52.

Taylor

Morin

Parker

Cohn

D. V.

Funk

Mokrzycki

(2011). War and sacrifice in the post-9/11 era: The military-civilian gap. Pew Research Center.

53.

Totenhagen

C. J.

Albright

D. L.

(2018). Military and veteran-connected families: Advances in theory and methodology. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 10, 513–515.

54.

Urbieta

D. A.

Akin

J. L.

Hamilton

W. M.

Brock

W. W.

Yablonsky

A. M.

(2021). We’re stronger together: A collaboration to support military families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Military Medicine, 186(Supplement_2), 23–34.

55.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. (2017). Military spouses in the workplace: Understanding the impacts of spouse unemployment on military recruitment, retention, and readiness. https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/sites/default/files/Military%20Spouses%20in%20the%20Workplace.pdf

56.

Walker

Matsa

K. E.

(2021). News consumption across social media in 2021. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2021/09/20/news-consumption-across-social-media-in-2021/

57.

Ward

(2005). Watchdog culture: Why you need it, how you can build it. Poynter Institute. https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2005/watchdog-culture-why-you-need-it-how-you-can-build-it/

58.

Washington Post [@washingtonpost]. (2015, July 20). John McCain calls on Donald Trump to apologize to military families [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/623111640867844096

59.

Wilbur

(2016). Defining the Iraq-Afghanistan veteran in American newspapers. Sociology, 6(4), 267–276.

60.

Zhou

Zhang

Wang

Chen

Zhou

(2021). How social media shapes one’s public mood: The three-way interaction effect of sphere, information valence, and justice sensitivity. Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, 15, 1834490921991425.