Military Recruiting Advertising and Media Access Undermine Peace Efforts

Military recruiting advertising and media access undermine peace efforts
Brian J. Trautman

"A combination of excessive and disproportionate government funding for military recruiting advertising as well as mainstream media accessibility issues severely undermine the efforts of peace- and social/ecological justice-focused groups (including those that are government-funded) to publicly disseminate their principles and initiatives and to secure much needed donations, volunteers and staff"

Beyond the walls of our high schools, the U.S. military, with its exorbitant funding for recruiting advertising, is targeting our young people through the mainstream media. According to a 2003 report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (U.S. GAO), the Department of Defense (DoD) has an annual goal to recruit more than 200,000 young men and women for the military. The military’s target recruit audience is males aged 17-24. To assist in meeting this target number, the military services advertise on television, on radio, in print and through a range of other promotional activities.

Earlier this year, I viewed a nationally televised sporting event on my local NBC television affiliate. As the game progressed I witnessed numerous military recruiting advertisements for three of the four major service branches: Army, Marines and Navy. During the event, however, I failed to see one commercial informing our parents and youth about opportunities for self-development and community service through volunteer and employment roles with organizations and groups that teach and train on peacebuilding principles and values. These include love, empathy, forgiveness, reconciliation, nonviolence, relationship building, human rights, social/ecological justice and sustainability.

Rarely, if ever, are Americans offered the chance to observe and consider information through mainstream media sources for employment and volunteer opportunities with peacebuilding initiatives, such as nonviolence projects, violence prevention initiatives, restorative justice programs, human rights groups, or humanitarian causes. Even as many such organizations and programs exist to protect and grow human security through education and training on the deep and profound value of nonviolent conflict resolution and the positive implications of direct community involvement as an effective and sustainable alternative to military buildup and action, we receive very little information about their important work and accomplishments. Examples of these groups include Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP), American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), Amnesty International (AI), Peace Brigades International (PBI), Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP), and two government funded programs: AmeriCorps and Peace Corps. At the very least I would like to see AmeriCorps and Peace Corps, who advocate community building and skills acquisition through education, training and experiential learning, receive equal advertising dollars from the federal government to sponsor alternative opportunities to the military option. Yes, I am advocating equal money and air time for peace- and community enhancement efforts, not a ban of military recruiting ads.

To these points and concerns some may argue that the DoD pays for their advertisements, and therefore they should have access and exposure as would any other entity that has the financial capacity to commercially self-endorse. My counter to this argument is that the DoD has substantially more financial resources and long-standing relationships with corporate media through the centuries-old military-industrial complex, to include influence in and on the major media, within which they persuade, and even coerce, advertisement for military recruitment, leaving those organizations who labor tirelessly and passionately on behalf of peace little in the way of capacity to financially compete for air time and gain access to the public.

According to the U.S. GAO, by fiscal year 2003 DoD's total recruiting budget was approaching $4 billion annually, and since the late 1990s DoD has overhauled its recruiting advertising programs and nearly doubled funding for recruiting advertising. Over this time, the military services have revised many of their advertising campaigns and focused on complementing traditional advertising, such as by increasing the use of the Internet, and participating in more promotional activities, such as sports events. DoD's total advertising funding increased 98 percent in constant dollars from fiscal year 1998 through fiscal year 2003 – from $299 million to $592 million. And in 2006, DoD’s collective recruiting budgets included $800.7 million for its recruiting programs and $663 million for its advertising campaigns. The RAND Corporation reports that in 2007, the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps collectively spent more than $600 million on recruiting advertising, which represents a 150 percent increase over 1999 levels.

To compare, in fiscal year 2006 the operating budgets for AmeriCorps (Programs + Education Award) and Peace Corps were $525.6 million and $318.8 million respectively – both figures lower that the 2006 recruiting advertising budgets of the military. In other words, on recruiting advertising alone, the military was appropriated more funds than the total amount of government financial support provided AmeriCorps and Peace Corps.

As a concerned military veteran, father, uncle, cousin, educator, etc., I urge fellow citizens who are concerned about issues related to peace and justice to contact President Obama and local congressional representatives to appeal for a substantial increase in funding for organizations that work on behalf of progressive and systemic change and an end to violence, especially structural violence, through a commitment to raise awareness about the positive and meaningful outcomes of (1) nonviolent conflict resolution (2) justice and accountability in social, economic and environmental areas, and (3) sustainable development. In the interest of building strong and enduring cultures of peace domestically and globally, taxpayer dollars must be allocated first and foremost to organizations that advocate peaceful and sustainable solutions to conflict, for human security and democracy, over the continued violence, aggression and war perpetuated through military solutions. Increased funding for these peace-focused groups is especially important in the current economic climate, as many aid organizations, such as the American Red Cross, are in critical need of financial support. Also, as we continue to see unemployment numbers rise, the military becomes a more viable option for scores of young Americans, particularly those with families, who are either unaware of their options/alternatives or unable to secure a living wage in the private job market. In addition to jobs through military service, government and media have a moral and social responsibility to publicly inform on opportunities to serve our neighbors and communities in nurturing, uplifting and sustainable capacities.

Besides the matter of funding and the sources receiving that funding, I believe we need to address accessibility and priority issues. With the knowledge that many corporate media outlets are owned by and/or have business partnerships with government entities, it becomes more apparent why a greater amount of commercial air time gets allocated to military recruitment programs than to peacebuilding initiatives. In today’s media market, military sponsored advertisements are broadcast virtually unchallenged as a method to grow the military-industrial complex, in effect furthering imperial goals through aggression and force or the threat thereof. It alarms me and calls me to action knowing that the major media acquiesces to be used as tool to disseminate the military recruitment message while ignoring its moral imperative to publicize alternatives.

Let’s take NBC for example, which is owned by General Electric (GE), one of the world’s leading weapons manufacturers, to include weapons of mass destruction. It is in GE’s interest, at least financially, to support military recruitment and the growth of our military. This evokes a troubling consideration and possibility – that our military and major media have a relationship and business interest to support and further a campaign to recruit our young men and women for military service, often doing so by glamorizing violence and war through false promises of glory and power for so-called national pride and patriotism. To be fair and not single out NBC and GE, I have also seen multiple military recruiting advertisements through sportscasts on the Versus television sports channel, which is owned by Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator.

I firmly believe that the issue of military recruiting advertising and media accessibility is a matter of funding AND values. For this reason, I think that in addition to urging President Obama and Congress to reform appropriation policy, we must contact media corporations including NBC Universal, Inc. to appeal for greater moral and ethical responsibility in their decision-making regarding access to organizations advocating nonviolence, peace and justice.

To conclude, I think it would be appropriate to close with the immortal words of Martin Luther King, Jr. With reference to military defense spending (in which I would include monies for military recruiting advertising), Dr. King wrote, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”

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The writer resides in Albany, NY and is on the faculty of the peace and world order studies program at Berkshire Community College located in Pittsfield, MA. Brian is an active member of Berkshire Citizens for Peace and Justice (BCP&J) and is an editor of the US Peace Registry of the US Peace Memorial Foundation.