Military Review English Edition November-December 2015 | Page 29

COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES

to topic over time. As media evolve, communication
routes should evolve via traditional and social media.
Recommendation 5. Integrate traditional and social
media strategies, varying the efforts devoted to each
according to a strategic time line. Leaders can blend
traditional and social media when they are trying to
introduce significant change to their organizations, such
as a change in combat brigade tactics or a new practice
involving battlefield artillery systems. Such change is
challenging, but it has to be done from time to time.
Figure 7 illustrates a way to blend official messages
via traditional media and supporting messages by way
of social media. A communication strategy might vary
the amount of effort devoted to traditional, top-down
media messages and to social media messages according to five hypothetical time segments.
A key guideline is this: first, use traditional media
to establish a clear message; later, use social media to
explain and support traditional media message. If the
intended audience is young, make use of “their” social
media as applicable.
At Time 1, emphasize traditional, top-down
media for official messages about changes in combat
brigade tactics or battlefield artillery practices, but
with some emphasis on social media and personal
contact. Social media tend to be more persuasive
than are traditional media because they are perceived to be less shaped by censoring authority.
Additionally, individuals communicating online and
in person appear to be the most persuasive of all.

At Time 2, devote more effort to engaging audiences in discussions via social media or in person, while
making the traditional media emphasis more moderate.
From Time 3 through Time 4, reduce both traditional and social media messages as individuals or
units absorb the changes. Investigate appropriately to
make sure the changes are made.
At Time 5, all communications on these topics
might end. If the communication strategy successfully
brings about changes in understanding and behavior
related to the combat brigade tactics or battlefield artillery systems, perhaps leaders could turn to new communication challenges. Maybe leaders need to maintain
a low level of attention for a while. Monitoring communications is, as we know, a command responsibility.

Summary
Traditional media are not dead, but their declining
use by younger audiences suggests that military leaders
need to adapt their methods to reach their internal and
external audiences in strategic ways, as do other
organizations that serve society. To such an end, it may
be prudent to tap younger members of the military
who are in a position to provide real insights to more
experienced leadership on how best to communicate in
an age increasingly influenced by social media so they
can remain flexible in their information strategies. In
this area, leaders need to learn from others all the time,
just as did the best kings in ancient times. The most
effective leaders still do.

Col. Donald L. Shaw, U.S. Army, retired, is Kenan Professor Emeritus in the School of Media and Journalism
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned his PhD in journalism from the University of
Wisconsin, Madison. He is credited, along with colleague Maxwell McCombs of the University of Texas at
Austin, with developing agenda-setting theory. Shaw is the author of numerous journal articles and books.
Thomas C. Terry is professor of journalism at Utah State University, Logan. He spent a year on a Department of
Defense intelligence community post-doctoral grant studying the emerging horizontal media world. Terry owned
and edited a small group of newspapers in Illinois. He is a past president of the Illinois Press Association and the
author of numerous scholarly publications.
Milad Minooie is a doctoral student in the School of Media and Journalism at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. He earned his master’s degree in communications from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2013.
He spent five years as a political journalist and editor in Iran. He is the co-author, with Donald Shaw, of several
scholarly papers.
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