Hero, Charity Case, and Victim: How U.S. News Media Frame Military Veterans on Twitter

• Published date: 01 October 2019
• Date: 01 October 2019
• Author: Scott Parrott,Caitlin Dyche,Hailey Grace Steele,David L. Albright
• DOI: 10.1177/0095327X18784238
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Hero, Charity Case, and

Victim: How U.S. News

Media Frame Military

Veterans on Twitter

Scott Parrott

1

, David L. Albright

2

,

Caitlin Dyche

3

, and Hailey Grace Steele

4

Abstract

Commenters often criticize the mass media for providing audiences a narrow and

inaccurate representation of U.S. military veterans. This study examined the claim by

researching how regional news publications in the 50 states represented veterans on

Twitter. A quantitative content analysis documented the presence or absence of

characteristics in 1,460 tweets that employed the terms veteran or veterans. Data

were examined using cluster analysis. Three frames emerged. The most prevalent

frame, labeled charity, highlighted instances in which veterans received assistance

from charitable organizations and others. The second frame, hero, contained

references to honor, World War II, and content that would elicit pride from

audience members. The third frame, victim, highlighted the mistreatment of veterans

by the military and/or society, mental health issues, politics, and the Gulf War.

Results suggest U.S. news consumers are provided a narrow representation of what

it means to be a veteran.

Keywords

media, civil–military relations, veterans, news, stereotype

1

Department of Journalism & Creative Media, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

2

School of Social Work, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

3

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

4

The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Scott Parrott, The University of Alabama, PO Box 870172, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA.

Email: msparrott@ua.edu

Armed Forces & Society

2019, Vol. 45(4) 702-722

ªThe Author(s) 2018

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DOI: 10.1177/0095327X18784238

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In the spring of 2017, the Las Vegas Review-Journal shared a story with its readers

about how the community would soon be helping homeless veterans “combat life on

the streets” (Rogers, 2017). Across the country in Alabama, The Birmingham News

website carried an article under the headline, Service Dogs Save Veterans From

Themselves (Eversmann, 2017). One month later and one state away, the Atlanta

Journal Constitution published two jail mug shots and the headline, Veteran, Soldier

Boyfriend Accused of Shooting, Killing Therapy Dog on Video (Ewing, 2017).

The stories covered different topics, appeared in different publications, and

reached readers in different states. Nevertheless, the stories shared a common theme:

They represented stereotypes concerning veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, asso-

ciating military service with mental and physical trauma, increased potential for

violence and instability, and a reliance on the charity of others. In isolation, stories

about communities recognizing the service of veterans are not problematic. How-

ever, veterans and veterans’ organizations say the frequent repetition of stories

related to mental illness, violence, charity, and even heroism can be problematic

because they provide the civilian public too narrow a portrait of what it means to be a

veteran. The National Veterans Foundation (2016) noted that

There is no doubt that serving in the Armed Forces brings about personal and profes-

sional challenges, but that does not mean that all veterans are ticking time-bombs ...

Most of us aren’t standing on a street corner needing a handout.

The mass media, the National Veterans Foundation wrote, are “the main culprit

in fostering these negative stereotypes.”

Given such commentary on the ma ss media, the present study sough t to empiri-

cally examine how regional news outlets across the United States represent mil-

itary veterans in stories shared on the popular social media platform Twitter. It is

important to understand how news organizations and other mass media represent

veterans because the messages conveyed by news outlets, television, film, books,

and social media may inform cognitive and affective associations concerning

social groups (e.g., Northup & Carpentier, 2015), explicit attitudes toward

groups (e.g., Arendt & Northup, 2015), and even behavior related to the group

(e.g., Hoewe & Hatemi, 2017). The news media can provide audience members

new information and knowledge concerning social groups, especially when news

consumers lack firsthand experience and knowledge concerning the group (e.g.,

Figenschou & Thorbjørnsrud, 2015).

Military veterans represent about 13%of the adult population in the United

States, or more than 18.8 million people (U.S. Census Bureau, 2016). Nevertheless,

there is little research concerning how the mass media portray this important section

of the American population, defined here as people who have served on active duty

for any length of time and who were discharged under conditions other than dis-

honorable. The number of people who closely know a veteran is decreasing (Living-

ston, 2016), which means the news media can be an important source of information

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