Military Media Relation—Can
The Media Be Force Multiplier?
Information is power, especially in this information age. The
media moulds national and international opinion and can be a
potent force multiplier.
Kargil Review Committee Report,
From Surprise to Reckoning:
Introduction
One of the most dramatic developments in contemporary warfare is the emergence of
news media as a powerful instrument of war. While the “Fourth Estate” does transmit
news, it is important to national security because of its influence. This is because
winning modern wars is as much dependent on carrying domestic and international
public opinion as it is on defeating the enemy on the battlefield. Soldiers understand
fighting, journalists understand communicating, yet neither knows that the political
impact of combat depends on how the fighting is communicated. Thus both sides
need one another. Today’s military commanders stand to gain more than ever before
from controlling the media and shaping their output.
The media provides the military with a global stage to send its message and execute
its mission. It also has great potential as a force multiplier, a source of intelligence,
and a resource for conducting Psychological Operations (Psy Ops). The importance of
the media in India’s first television war can be gauged by the fact the Kargil
Committee Report devoted a separate section to this issue. The report noted that
while the coverage was satisfactory, it was apparent that the media lacked training in
military matters and the Armed Forces lacked the training to facilitate the task of the
media.
The Indian Army Doctrine states that the seven forms of Information
Warfare(IW) are Command and Control Warfare (C2W), Intelligence Based
Warfare (IBW), Electronic Warfare (EW), Psychological Warfare, Cyber
Warfare, Economic Information Warfare and Network Centric Warfare (NCW). It also
states that Psychological Warfare is achieved through mass media such as
newspapers, radio and television broadcasts and distribution of leaflets. However
association of media with psychological operations, deception operations and
perception management activities risk the loss of credibility of the military’s media
activities popularly known as Public Affairs (PA) in western countries whereas in Indian
Army it is called Public Information(PI). In all doctrines of western armed forces it is
emphatically stated that PA activities will not be used for Psy Ops or deception
purposes. There is a serious dichotomy here. The importance of the information
warfare with media as a force multiplier has to be understood and it has to be correctly
used as a weapon of decision making, a weapon of success
