The mediatization of the military

Abstract

Through an examination of military media management strategies, this article argues that the military are increasingly ‘mediatized’ where the media act as both a rationale and interface for communication within the military, and between the military and their audiences. Informed by ethnographic work with the British military, it is argued that military media management strategies are increasingly organised to appeal to, reassure and elicit support from multiple audiences – particularly the state and the military’s own internal personnel. In an attempt to move beyond conceptualisation of military media management as merely state propaganda, the author explores the degree to which the military, as a relatively autonomous institution, attempts to harness the power of media influence – whilst also protecting against it – in a manner that may be transforming the media–polity–military relationship and is reflective of the processes of mediatization.