Public affairs is a term for the formal offices of the branches of the United States Department of Defense whose purpose is to deal with the media and community issues.
The public affairs officer (PAO) is responsible for developing a working relationship with reporters and other media representatives, maintaining a robust community relations program, keeping contact with other government agencies, and keeping internal and external publics informed on issues that may affect them.
PAOs oversee the production of base newspapers, magazines, and internal information produced by enlisted Public Affairs specialists that include coordinating media visits (if possible) and writing stories to share with fellow deployed personnel as well as audiences back home, both military and civilian.
[1] Tyrese Gibson's character in Michael Bay's Transformers series was an example of the positive results through cooperation between the United States Department of Defense and Hollywood.
[2] The Public Affairs community of the United States Armed Forces consists of active duty, national guard, and reserve service members, civilians and consultants to provide support for managing the flow of news and information for the military.
During this re-organization, the Communication Strategy and Operations Company became a single entity as part of the Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) Information Group (MIG).
[7] Marines within the Communication Strategy and Operations community are identified by Military Occupational Specialties (MOS): Enlisted Officer The United States Navy public affairs community is led by the Chief of Naval Information (CHINFO) within the U.S. Navy Office of Information.
Enlisted members of the Navy public affairs community are rated as Mass Communication Specialist (MC).
The annual CHINFO Merit Awards (CMA) Program recognizes outstanding achievements in internal media products produced by Navy commands and individuals.
[9] Enlisted Coast Guard members are rated as Public Affairs Specialist (PA) after attending the Defense Information School and come from the Active and Reserve components.