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

 

Table of Contents:

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

This website was constructed as part of a research project under the auspices of the University of Oklahoma. It does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Defense.

 

 

This Capstone project made an initial attempt at determining whether or not military newspapers meet the objectives they advocate. The researchers used the Tinker Take Off as a baseline to draw conclusions about whether certain independent variables have an impact on the objectives. The researchers do not know to what extent the findings from a readership survey conducted on the Take Off compares to surveys conducted on U.S. military newspapers worldwide. Furthermore, the researchers do not know whether the questions posed in the survey measure the variables (objectives) the Tinker public affairs office sought to measure or whether the grouping of questions to measure for the variables accurately measure the
objectives intended by the Air Force and the DoD.

Although the data suggest that certain independent variables, such as newspaper use, influence the dependent measures, the researchers still do not know to what extent they influence these dependent measures.

On a positive note, this project succeeded in implementing a systematic, quantitative approach to determining whether military newspapers meet their objectives. Future research may incorporate the research methods used in this study or build on these methods. For example, the DoD or a headquarters at a branch of service could survey a few to several different bases within its command to assess the effectiveness of base newspapers. At the micro level, in developing its next readership survey, the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center public affairs office at Tinker AFB should take full advantage of its location close to a reputable communications school at a major research university and its resources. The office could consult with faculty and students and consider implementing some of the research performed in this study.

Whichever the course of action, a systematic, quantitative approach is a useful, effective means of finding answers to questions about military newspapers.