Media could shape US support – Defense One

Illustration by the IMI

The extent of future U.S. aid to Ukraine likely hinges, at least in part, on how the media chooses to continue covering the war, according to research recently published in the journal Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, reports Defense One. 

Coverage of the civilian death toll of Russian attacks—which UN and other estimates put at nearly 12,000—will be particularly important, according to a paper out this week from, according to a new study by Alon Kraitzman, Tom Etienne, and Dolores Albarracin.

Defense One writes that the researchers used five experiments to gauge the impact of empathy on U.S. public support for wartorn countries.

In one experiment, 800 participants were given various amounts of information about civilian casualties. Those who saw casualty details showed increased empathy, with 78% scoring high on a five-item index, compared to 51% in the control group. Of those in the high-empathy group, 82% supported continued U.S. military aid to Ukraine, versus 59% among the lower-empathy group.

Another experiment divided 1,200 respondents into two groups:

• one that was exposed to detailed accounts of Ukrainian civilian casualties
• and the other given neutral information about the conflict.

Among those exposed to civilian casualty narratives, 72% expressed support for increased U.S. aid to Ukraine, compared to 48% in the neutral group.

“Our research highlights the crucial role of media in shaping continued support for foreign intervention, indicating how empathy-inducing reporting on foreign conflicts can increase and sustain support for US involvement,” the researchers write.

Defense One reports that the dozens of nations sending military aid to Ukraine will attempt to map out a way to sustain the wartorn country’s defensive efforts through 2027. A senior U.S. defense official said this ahead of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s final meeting with the group. At the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group scheduled to take place at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on January 9, the leaders of the group’s eight “capability coalitions” will “need to endorse roadmaps that articulate Ukraine's air force, armor, artillery, de-mining, drone, integrated air and missile defense, information technology and maritime security needs and objectives through 2027."

"These roadmaps are intended to enable donors to plan for and support Ukraine sustainably into the future," the official told reporters.