A Good Fooling: Journalism’s Narrative of Surprise Military Homecomings

A narrative analysis was performed on recent media texts regarding the return of members of the US military and staged reunions with their family members. The USA’s current state of permanent war means that it needs more instances of closure. The narrative that emerged from news coverage is a reminder that reunions, while providing closure, are also one of the last bastions of war coverage, even as journalists have ceded control of it to event organizers. War has been made perfectly safe for public consumption at long last. It is argued that such coverage causes us to disassociate from war and its cost, and to recognize, but not truly understand, the hardships endured by military families. We see only their tears of joy upon the return of their loved ones. The media contribute to this misunderstanding by crafting purportedly more personal connections to military personnel by portraying their experiences through a human-interest lens. We recognize – for a scripted moment – the hardships endured by military families. We see only their tears of joy upon the return of their loved ones. The narrative analyzed here is operationalized by officials to encourage us to think about the military, not the wars.