CONSTANT CRISIS: A STUDY OF THE U.S. MILITARY’SCRISIS COMMUNICATION PROGRAMA ThesisPresented toThe Faculty of the School of Journalism and Mass CommunicationsSan Jose State UniversityIn Partial Fulfillmentof the Requirements for the DegreeMaster of Science byAlyson M. Teeter-Baker May 2008

ABSTRACTCONSTANT CRISIS: A STUDY OF THE U.S. MILITARY’SCRISIS COMMUNICATION PROGRAM by Alyson M. Teeter-Baker This study analyzes the U.S. military’s crisis communication program. Militarydocuments were analyzed and current and former military public affairs personnel wereinterviewed to understand the military’s crisis communication program and how itcorrelates to the Horsley and Baker’s (2002) synthesis model. Historical wartime caseswere examined to uncover patterns in its communication practices. This study confirmsthat the military’s crisis communication program correlates closely with the synthesismodel. But the military’s communication efforts often failed in the aftermath of pastcrises due to its authoritarian culture and justice system. The authoritarian culturecompelled the military to use unethical tactics, such as lying and censoring, yet thesetactics became less common through time as communication technologies advanced.