Chris Minor
AFL 085
Cause/Effect (Final Draft)
3/23/2015

The media has a very powerful voice in society and can be responsible for promoting stereotypes of specific groups. Their voice is so profound that it can shape the way the public perceives these groups. One group the media has had a heavy hand in stereotyping lately is the United States Veterans of the Armed Forces. Whether it is in print journalism, news radio and TV newscasts, or the portrayal of vets in television shows and movies, the veterans have been cast in a bad light. The veterans seem to be a constant topic in the news and the majority of their coverage seems to be negative and unfair. USA Today had a headline that read: Police Get Help with Vets Who are Ticking Bombs. A CNN headline reads, Experts: Vets’ PTSD, Violence a Growing Problem. The Christian Science Monitor had an article titled, Veteran Charged with Homeless Murders: Hint of Larger Problem for US Military. With the public being bombarded with this atrociousness and the emphasis that the perpetrator was a veteran, it is easy to see how the veterans can quickly gain a bad rap. Is the real problem that the veterans are majorly broken or are monsters? Or, is the media picking a target and exploiting them for quick and easy profits? Considering that 140,000 veterans are part of America’s prison population and 20,000 of those are for murder it would seem that there is a real problem with the veterans. It would also lead one to assume that maybe the media is portraying them accurately. However, those numbers only account for less than 1/10 of one percent of the entire Veteran population. By and large the media misrepresents the Veterans unfairly. This sensationalized portrayal at the Veterans expense can cause them a lot of unnecessary problems in their daily lives. It can cause them problems with perspective employers, college admission offices, as well as social problems with friends and family. These problems that the veterans are facing are unfair stereotypes placed on them by irresponsible members of the media selling sensationalism rather than accurately reporting the news. One of the consequences of the media’s negative portrayal of veterans is in the realm of employment. With potential employers reading some of these overly sensationalized headlines, they can become leery of hiring former members of the military. They can develop prejudices and stereotypes of veterans. They may fear that just because someone is a veteran that they are also a drug addict or alcoholic. They may also fear that the veteran may have PTSD or other mental issues and have a tendency to become violent. With the inability to find work the veterans are more likely to commit crimes. Any time unemployment rates go up the same is true for crime rates. Frustrated and unemployed veterans can easily find themselves committing crimes as a result of being jobless and needing to support themselves and their families. Another problem created for veterans through unemployment is that many of them feel like they no longer have a “sense of purpose” in life. During active duty they were used to performing extremely important tasks on a daily basis. To go from performing extremely important duties everyday to not being able to find any kind of job at all can be a drastic change and leave a person feeling very empty and unimportant. Fortunately, a lot of the military views themselves as a family and they are there to help one another. Many of them have been able to help others with job leads and referrals. A lot of returning veterans have also found a sense of purpose in doing charity work within their community. Charity work and giving back to the community can be a win win for many veterans. It not only gives them something to do that they can be proud of but also shows their community that they are good, hard working people. Another way the media’s depiction of the veterans harms them is the social aspect. Public perceptions as well as the view from friends and family are all affected by the media. Civilians have read and heard so many stories of veterans becoming addicts and criminals that they are subject to view all former military members in this manner. The military population in contrast to the civilian population is small. With so few civilians directly connected to someone who serves, it can make these stereotypes seem more believable. This can drive a wedge in between the public and the veterans. An example of this is a situation that transpired in San Diego, California. A new facility was opening to treat veterans for PTSD and other mental health disorders. The new facility was met with opposition from members of the community that cited the facility would be too close to a school. The city council ended up allowing the facility to open at the location they had chosen but it would be reasonable to assume that the people who opposed this were in large influenced by the recent media reports. Another social aspect is law enforcement and the military. People in law enforcement are more likely to profile veterans due to the way they are depicted in the media. The Department of Homeland Security has even listed vets as being a high risk for committing domestic terrorism. DHS has even gone as far as putting out media in the form of Public Service Announcements alerting both law enforcement and citizens. Some of this can be seen in their “See Something Say Something” snitch campaign propaganda. Lastly, another negative corollary of the media headlines is that they often suggest that PTSD always equates to violence. This is just simply an untruth. Nor is PTSD associated solely to veterans of combat duty. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can also result from sexual assault, serious injury; including motor vehicle accidents or house fires, or any list of threats of imminent death. PTSD also does not always manifest in violence as the media would like people to believe. More often than not, PTSD is an internal struggle for the sufferer and can be treated with medicine and counseling. People who suffer from PTSD and other mental health disorders often find themselves being unjustly labeled. There is a tendency in society to label people and look at them as representing that label. People with issues such as PTSD are people with an illness, not the illness itself. They can go through treatment and get better. They can also be great members of society and be of benefit to their communities. The media unfairly depicts veterans as being violent criminals. They know that sensationalism sells and they hype up certain articles out of greed to increase their profit margins. When reading a juicy and sensationalized headline about veterans, look to see if the suspect’s military background has anything to do with the crime being committed. With imbalanced portrayals of veterans and PTSD in the media, these stereotypes of veterans will continue. It is true that combat imposes significant challenges for those returning to society as civilians. However, through overcoming these challenges most of the veterans are able to emerge stronger. If the media is going to report on the veterans that have illnesses and commit crimes they should also report equally on the ones who are law abiding citizens as well. This would greatly improve the relationship between civilians and veterans. Maybe the best way to decipher the facts about veterans in the media is to not put too much stock in the over sensationalized headlines. Another way is to seek out veterans and get to know them for who they are instead of what they have been labeled.