The Vietnam War era was a very important chapter in the history of modern American warfare. Along with the cultural, geopolitical, and environmental implications of the war, the evolution of propaganda and the reach of media had just as large of an impact. Many advancements in the technology for media directly altered the public perception of the war and ultimately impacted the course of the war itself. The conflict simultaneously happened while the media landscape was going through many changes, such as the emergence of photojournalism, the growing influence of investigative journalism and the rise of television as a dominant news source. The way the war was reported and consumed was completely changed and information was easily exchanged …show more content…
It provided powerful and graphic imagery that is still analyzed today. Photojournalists were often on the ground in Vietnam beside the men serving, bringing the suffering and struggles of the civilians and children caught in the crossfire to the forefront of American public consciousness. Images of destroyed villages, wounded enemy soldiers, and grieving Vietnamese families, personalized the war and evoked empathy and compassion among viewers from all over the world. Prior to the Vietnam war photography was primarily a tool used by governments to control public opinion of conflicts, often showcasing the positives of war which changed during the Vietnam war. Iconic photographs such as Eddie Adams' image of the execution of a Viet Cong prisoner and Nick Ut's photograph of a napalm attack on a Vietnamese village exposed the true brutality and sometimes unnecessary violence of the war, going directly against official claims of progress and success. These images served as a powerful contrast to the clean portrayals of war, forcing American viewers to confront the brutal realities of America's military …show more content…
Johnson’s decision to not run for another term of presidency in 1968 was directly influenced by the shift in public opinion driven by investigative journalism. By 1968 there were roughly six hundred journalists from many different countries active on the ground in Vietnam, with each of them reporting to American news sources. The U.S. Military Assistance Command in Vietnam made movement and transportation easily available to journalists. This allowed them to go onto the battlefields and military camps to get their stories first-hand. Some even got the chance to be embedded with military units, allowing them to witness combat operations, interact with the soldiers, and experience the conditions. Access to military officers allowed the journalists to understand the strategic and tactical aspects of the war as well. Officers provided better explanations of the goals and challenges of operations which offered more context that was often missing from official press releases.There were many risks that came along with this access and many journalists were killed or still missing today. The constant exposure to death and human suffering took a significant psychological toll on many journalists and led to a lot of emotional
Beginning in the early 1960's American journalists began taking a hard look at America's involvement in South Vietnam. This inevitably led to a conflict with the American and South Vietnamese governments, some fellow journalists, and their parent news organizations. This was the last hurrah of print journalism, as television began to grow in stature. William Prochnau's, Once Upon A Distant War, carefully details the struggles of these hardy journalists, led by David Halberstram, Malcolm Browne, and Neil Sheehan. The book contains stories, told in layers, chronicling America's growing involvement in South Vietnam from 1961 through 1963.
Anderson, D. (2002). The Columbia guide to the Vietnam War. New York: Columbia University Press.
The Vietnam War has become a focal point of the Sixties. Known as the first televised war, American citizens quickly became consumed with every aspect of the war. In a sense, they could not simply “turn off” the war. A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo is a firsthand account of this horrific war that tore our nation apart. Throughout this autobiography, there were several sections that grabbed my attention. I found Caputo’s use of stark comparisons and vivid imagery, particularly captivating in that, those scenes forced me to reflect on my own feelings about the war. These scenes also caused me to look at the Vietnam War from the perspective of a soldier, which is not a perspective I had previously considered. In particular, Caputo’s account of
Tim O’Brien’s book, The Things They Carried, portrays stories of the Vietnam War. Though not one hundred percent accurate, the stories portray important historical events. The Things They Carried recovers Vietnam War history and portrays situations the American soldiers faced. The United States government represents a political power effect during the Vietnam War. The U. S. enters the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam. The U.S. government felt if communism spreads to South Vietnam, then it will spread elsewhere. Many Americans disapproved of their country’s involvement. Men traveled across the border to avoid the draft. The powerful United States government made the decision to enter the war, despite many Americans’ opposition. O’Brien’s The Things They Carried applies New Historicism elements, including Vietnam history recovery and the political power of the United States that affected history.
The Vietnam War was a vicious conflict predominately between the United States and Australia against The Viet Cong and The North Vietnamese. Initially the public supported the war, however the American president of the time, Lyndon B. Johnson, exaggerated how easy and worldwide the war was to attract further support. When he called for “more flags” to be represented in South Vietnam only the Philippines, the Republic of South Korea, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand indicated a willingness to contribute some form of military aid. By doing this “it enabled Johnson to portray the developing war as international to show it must be dealt with and gain support,” (Hastings, 2003). The outcome of the Vietnam War was ensured because the governments of the United States and Australia could not maintain their publics’ support due to the popular culture of the time. This was because much of the war was shown on television or other popular culture, so events like the Battle of Long Tan could be seen by families and people of all ages in their living rooms; this was the first time they could see how bad a war can actually be.
Source G: "The Vietnam War and Its Aftermath." American Voices. Glenview: Scott Foresman, 1995. 821-47. Print.
involvement in the war. With public pressure to leave Vietnam rising to an all-time high, President Johnson was met with another obstacle: the gold crisis. Because Johnson financed the war without proper taxing or Congressional consent, the economy entered into a crisis (Herring, p. 252-253). This made it increasingly difficult for Johnson to keep his promise of seeing the war through to a positive outcome. At this point, Johnson made a major shift in the war policy. He, along with his advisors, decided to move from Americanization to Vietnamization. This meant equipping the South Vietnamese with the right supplies and allowing them to fight for themselves (Herring, p. 246). In a speech on March 31, 1968 Johnson announced that the bombing in Vietnam would be drastically reduced. He also shocked the nation by saying, “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president.” (Herring, p. 258). This was the beginning of the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam
Instead of telling readers what to think through words, readers can form their own point of view from a photo. A photograph that showed different interpretations was taken during WWII after the destruction of Iwo Jima in Japan of Americans soldiers raising an American flag in the ruins. Some viewers may perceive this act as patriotic, and others may have thought it was an act of terrorism and revenge. Either opinion could be argued and the photograph is the evidence. Since photographs can be unbiased, they can also hold truthful detail. For example, one photograph from the Vietnam war depicted a Vietnamese police officer shooting a Viet Cong in the streets. There are a lot of emotion in that photograph that words cannot describe all; which included the fear and hostility that was upheld during the time. Newspapers need to print more of these kinds of photographs to educate people the ugliness of war and death. Ephron pointed out, “throughout the Vietnam War, editors were reluctant to print atrocity pictures. . . That 's what that war was about.” War and its deaths are a part of history too, and history needs to be kept true and unbiased. As long as the photos are not altered nor used for propaganda, they can be
Gilbert, Marc Jason. "Vietnam War." World Book Student. World Book, 2010. Web. 21 March 2010.
Mitchell, Michael C. "Television and The Vietnam War." Naval War College Review 37.3 (1989): 42-52.
“Photographs like the one that made the front page of the most newspapers in the world in 1972- a naked South Vietnamese child just sprayed by american napalm, running down a highway toward the cameras, her arms open, screaming with pain-- probably did more to increase the public revulsion against the war than a hundred hours of televised barbarities”(476)
‘’War Photographer’’ is a thought-provoking and mind gripping poem by Carol Ann Duffy. The poem revolves around the life of the photographer as he juggles between his two personas as he try to develop his photos and reminisce about the war torn countries, all the innocent people and the horrific and gory things he has witnessed. As the poem progresses and the pictures begin to develop the memories of pain and suffering from his past starts to unravel and becomes clearer and clearer. The main message the writer is trying to convey is the fact that through modern times news about the war is being published by the media in a truthful way that people feel less sympathy towards the innocent lives of the people dying all around the world. The writer effectively raises questions about our feelings and emotions that we feel towards war and death.
The Vietnam War was given the nickname the television war because of the impact televised media had on how Americans viewed the war. The media played a key role in providing momentum for the anti-war movement. It covered the protests, movements, and sit-ins taken by the groups opposed to the Vietnam War. After the Tet Offensive, media coverage of the Vietnam War became mostly negative. Pictures of civilian and military deaths were being covered more and more.
Media played a vital role in changing the views of pro-war Americans to anti-war views by giving death counts, setting the stage for the anti-war movement to perform on, and publicizing leaked government information. The Vietnam War was known as the first televised war (“Vietnam Television”). Americans could watch as United States Troops fought, and the nightly news updated Americans on the death count and progress of US Troops in Vietnam (“Vietnam Television”).
In times of War, the media plays a crucial role both in reporting, monitoring and giving updates. During the Vietnam War of 1955-1975, the American press played crucial roles of reporting until it ended up shifting its tone under the influence of occurrence of some events like the Tet Offensive, the My Lai Massacre, the bombing of Cambodia and leaking of Pentagon papers resulting into lack of trust in the press (Knightly 1975). From the beginning of the war up to present times there have been undying debates over the role of media in the war. The have been various criticisms over the American News Media’s actions and influences on the outcome of the war. The debate is embedded on the particular political assumptions perceived across the American political spectrum.