Do Military Command Information Newspapers Meet State Goals and Objectives They Claim to Advocate?

Department of Defense
Joint Course in Communication
University of Oklahoma -- Class 03A2

 

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Authors:
Jessica Bailey, U. S. Navy
Marisol Cantu, U. S. Marine Corps
Sharon Chan, U. S. Navy
Masao Doi, U. S. Air Force Civilian
Robert Whetstone, U. S. Army

 

 

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Abstract


The purpose of this study is to examine whether military command information newspapers meet goals and objectives as stated in Department of Defense (DoD) and service regulations. The goals and objectives are closely related across services and provided a start point to analyze collected data. A readership (random) survey was administered by public affairs personnel at Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker Air Force Base (AFB). Respondents (base personnel) filled out surveys to determine if the Tinker Takeoff newspaper met or failed to meet goals and objectives and if the paper is useful to its intended public. The surveys were collected initially by Tinker AFB public affairs and stored in a secure location and never committed to any data analysis to determine if its base newspaper met regulatory standards. The researchers employed Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) data analysis to these surveys to verify whether independent variables, such as age, gender, marital status, length of time at Tinker, level of education and base newspaper use influence the objectives. The data reveal only a few of the independent variables have an impact on some of the dependent measures. In addition, the researchers found the original survey poor in content and measurability and suggest ways to build a new, improved survey design. Furthermore, if analytical expertise is unavailable at military unit levels, public affairs practitioners should seek ways to gain access to or train personnel to run programs, such as SPSS.