On Target or Off the Mark: A Content Analysis of Air Force News Release Usage in Prestige and Air Force-Related Newspapers During Operation Northern Watch

Abstract

This study evaluated the use of information contained in U.S. Air Force news releases about Operation Northern Watch by three national newspapers -- the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Air Force Times from January 1, 1997 to December 31, 1999. The purpose of the study was posed as a research question: To what degree did the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Air Force Times use information provided in U.S. Air Force news releases regarding Operation Northern Watch? The research involved a content analysis in the context of a case study, examining news articles from "Section A" of the two prestige newspapers and all news articles filling the news hole in the Air Force-related newspaper. News releases and articles were compared to determine whether certain releases could have generated particular articles. If a match was found, the release and article were paired and coded. All of the releases examined contained a "positive" tone. Nearly 60% of the articles examined contained a "positive" tone, 21% were "balanced," and less than 15% were "negative." All releases were "hard news," and all but one was "past-oriented." Most of the articles were "hard news" and "past-oriented." Most articles in the prestige newspapers used "minimal" information from the news releases, while the Air Force Times used "minimal" and "significant" information equally. Nearly half of the articles examined used sources outside the Air Force, but inside the Department of Defense. Less than 60% of all articles examined were found to contain "very high accuracy," meaning all of the five W's (who, what, where, when, and why) provided in the release were present and correct in the articles.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 17, 2000
Accession Number
ADA379893

Entities

People

  • Amie R. Mize

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Civil War
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Economic Sanctions
  • Governments
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Public Policy
  • Treaties
  • United States European Command
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Occupational Health and Safety.
  • Political Science/ International Relations/ European Studies