Veterans and Media: The Effects of News Exposure on Thoughts, Attitudes, and Support of Military Veterans

The mass media are an important source of information concerning military service personnel and veterans. Veterans, veterans organizations, and others have criticized the mass media for providing the public shallow representations of veterans and military service in which veterans are heroes traumatized mentally and/or physically by their service. Despite the concern, scant research has empirically examined how exposure to such content affects public perceptions of veterans. Using an experiment, this study examined how exposure to news stories of military veterans informed thoughts, attitudes, and support intentions toward veterans. Results suggest short, one-time exposure to stereotypical news stories can lead readers to perceive an increased likelihood veterans will experience post-traumatic stress disorder and, in turn, feel less desire to be socially close with veterans. However, exposure to a story that challenges stereotypical representations of veterans appears to mitigate the effect. In addition, news exposure can influence support intentions related to veterans.