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Results
This investigation explores
whether embedded journalist coverage of the first days of Operation
Iraqi Freedom produced a qualitatively different coverage, news reports
that were more favorable in tone/trust and episodic in nature. To assess
the study’s predictions, a series of one-way ANOVAs were computed:
two examining the impact of journalist status (embedded, non-embedded)
on each of the three dependent variables.
Hypothesis 1 predicted that, compared to non-embedded reporting, embedded
journalists produce more positive coverage of the military and its personnel.
Results supported this prediction. The one way ANOVAs were significant
on the overall tone toward the military (F1,116=45.78, p < .01)and
trustworthiness of individual troops(F1,116=15.36, p < .01). These
results support hypothesis 1. Means are shown in Table 1.
Hypothesis 2 posited that compared to non-embedded reporting, embedded
journalists produce more episodically framed stories. Results supported
this prediction. The one way ANOVA revealed a significant main effect
for reporter status on episodic framing (F1,116=70.924, p < .01).
These results support hypothesis 2. Means are shown on Table 1.
We also posed two research questions. The first question asked about
military personnel’s perceptions of the tone of news coverage
of combat units during wartime? Specifically, do military members believe
that embedded news coverage was more favorable toward the military?
As Table 2 reveals, military members were positive in their perception
about embedding. In addition, there is some evidence of a third person
affect. This is evident in the results of correlated t-tests, comparing
respondent perceptions with their sense of other military member’s
perception (t1395=402, p < .01) and comparing their perceptions and
their expectations of the public’s perceptions (t1389=11.56, p
< .01). Note that in both instances the military member’s perceptions
are more positive, suggesting that they understand the benefit of the
embedding strategy, but are less certain whether others do.
The second question asks, what is the contribution of specific communication
media to military personnel’s perceptions of the strategy of embedding
journalists in combat units during wartime? Hierarchal multiple regression
analysis were computed to answer this question. The regression analysis
featured two blocks, whether the respondent was deployed in support
of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the media did they were exposed to.
As Table 3 indicates the regression analysis showed that the dependant
variables of the military member’s perceptions and military member’s
feelings were significantly effected the by the way they received their
news. For the dependent variable, individual military member’s
perceptions of embedding, the regression results indicated that the
control variable of whether military personnel were deployed in support
of Operation Iraqi Freedom was a significant predictor (b = .09, p <.01).
After controlling for deployment, the results indicated that three media
sources were significant predictors of positive perceptions. They were:
civilian TV news (b = .25, p < .01), civilian web sites (b = .06,
p < .05), and internal information (b = .13, p < .01). For the
dependent variable of the military member’s feeling about deployment,
the control variable was not significant. The results simply indicated
that the media variables of civilian TV news (b = .012, p < .01),
civilian web sites (b = .08, p < .05), and internal information (b
= -.08, p < .05) impacted feelings. Positive betas for civilian TV
news and civilian web sites indicate that greater use of these media
produced more positive feelings, whereas the negative beta for internal
communication suggested that greater use of this source undermined positive
feelings of embedding. Therefore, the avenue of which the media is presented
affected how military members perceived the strategy of embedding journalists
in combat units during wartime.
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