Vietnam was the first war that allowed full freedom to the press, allowing the media to cover the war in their own light. Without censorship, appalling images showed the public the sites of war they had never seen before. Many people believe that the media started the lack of support for the Vietnam War. For example, the Tet Offensive would become “one of the most controversial and climactic events in which the media played a role” (). Until the Tet Offensive, the media had portrayed the U.S. winning the war. However, when the North Vietnamese sprung an attack on the U.S. embassy in Saigonthe, the American public felt as if they were there. As the media started to influence the public through television and magazines, people began to doubt …show more content…
Before Tet, no one gave press censorship a though. This was due to reporters having trouble getting their stories out of South Vietnam and to the public eye. By the time the Tet Offensive took place, stories could reach the United States in less than 24 hours. Reporters used the W.W.II technique of coverage in the early years by portraying soldiers in a sympathetic manner. “Many people argue that the media began to over emphasize combat coverage and under report the way the war was played out. The camera’s blurred the cultural, social, and historical aspects of the war, therefore, distorting American perception.
The Tet offensive was a military failure, but thanks to media coverage it came across as a triumph for the Communists. In other words, “television footage boosted the morale for the "enemy". The media widely reported that Vietcong soldiers had invaded the U.S. embassy building, while they had never made it through the front door. Twenty-six Vietcong did make it inside but three marines kept them from entering the actual building. The media, however, never retracted their stories. This pattern was repeated throughout the war
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“What is ironic, however, is that the young conservative activists had a broader following and more lasting influence. Many leftist groups collapsed soon after Vietnam ended, while more conservative groups went on to expand on their already strong political foundation” (Gahr 184).
Besides failing to mention the conservative trend among the American youth in the 60’s, the media also did them a disservice. The media gave viewers the idea that the anti-war movement was led by pacifists and idealists. The group that was actually in charge were the Marxists. This group, composing of both men and women, wanted a Communist victory. The media did not show the Marxist’s communist and Viet Cong flags that were raised during rallies; yet they ignored organizers of the "peace movement". The media gave left-wing ideology a good name and ignored the conservative parties
Such coverage, along with the vivid images that emerge on T.V. led to a serious rise in anti-war protest that was merely strengthened by the events of 1968. The Tet Offensive of 1968 marked the greatest conflict in beliefs of the United Stated government and the media. In January, North Vietnamese troops attacked the North cities of South Vietnam and the U.S. embassy in Saigon. The media and the television, however, portrayed the attack as a brutal defeat for the U.S, totally altering the outcome of the war at the very moment when government officials were publicly stating that victory in Vietnam was "just around the corner" (Wyatt 167)[8]. The media covered all the events that immediately followed the Tet Offensive and the American public began wondering whether this war could be won. Don Oberdorfer a Washington reporter said that “there’s no doubt Tet was one of the biggest events in contemporary American history, within two months the, American body politically turned around on the war. And they were significantly
This essay will discuss to what degree the media can be blamed for the United States’ loss in the Vietnam conflict ending 1975. It will be based predominantly on key written resources on the subject, but it will also contain - by means of an interview - certain first-hand observations from a Vietnam War veteran.
The introductory attack began spectacularly during celebrations of the Vietnamese Lunar New Year and left global lungs breathless (Farber and Bailey 34-54). Widely seen as the turning point in the Vietnam War, the NLF and PAVN won an enormous psychological and propaganda-associated victory, which ultimately led to the loss of popular support for the War in the United States and the eventual withdrawal of American troops. Additionally, the events surrounding the Tet Offensive piloted American citizens to increased polarization. Attracting members from college campuses, middle-class suburbs, labor unions, and government institutions, the anti-war movement was swollen with aggrieved affiliates (Farber and Bailey 34-54). The observable pathos of the protesters delivered the distrust of a growing population to the White House doors; the budding doubt in governmental affairs was difficult to discard and impossible to ignore. Indisputably, the Tet Offensive of 1968 cleaved the fragile harmony of the public and birthed a political skepticism that continues to subsist in modern American minds.
During the Vietnam War, Americans were greatly influenced by the extensive media coverage of the war. Before the 1960’s and the intensification of the war, public news coverage of military action was constrained heavily by the government and was directed by Government policy. The Vietnam War uniquely altered the perception of war in the eyes of American citizens by bringing the war into their homes. The Vietnam War was the first U.S uncensored war resulting in the release of graphic images and unaltered accounts of horrific events that helped to change public opinion of the war like nothing it had ever been. This depiction by the media led to a separation between the United States government and the press; much of what was reported flouted
The increasing number of troops and military efforts involved with Vietnam and the seemingly optimistic reports reported by the government were the primary factors that caused the Tet Offensive and Counteroffensive. The American government had become increasingly involved with the Vietnam war. From 1965 to 1967, over 400,000 soldiers were sent to help the South Vietnamese forces. This massive increase in the amount of soldiers was frustrating to the American people. Johnson’s approval rating fell to a mere 40%, half of what it had been in 1965. (“Vietnam War (1959-1975)” ; Axelrod 1). When the American soldiers returned home from Vietnam, it was often heard that they were spit on, and
January 31, 1968 North Vietnamese attacked over 100 cities throughout South Vietnam on thirty-five of forty-four province capitals, thirty-six district towns, and many villages and hamlets. Dubbed the “Tet Offensive” because it coincided with the Vietnamese New Year’s holiday, Tet, was a turning point in the Vietnam War. Most historians agree that the Tet Offensive was the turning point in the Vietnam War as events shifted the role of United States involvement in Southeast Asia as the shock it produced was the catalyst that led to the reevaluation of U.S. policy. While intelligence failure contributed to the shift in the Vietnam War, most historians have disagreed on the role of the media in aiding the American public’s views against the war.
The war in Vietnam did not affect only matured political leaders. In fact, one of the largest demographics affected by the war was the population of young adults ages 18-35. These people, who were commonly referred to as ‘college aged’, experienced a time of revolution during 1961-1975. Previous to the war, students in universities could not voice their opinions on political or social issues. The voting age at the time was actually 21, meaning many students in college could not even vote in elections. Despite their oppression, many students felt that their opinions were valid and wanted to be heard. This birthed the Free Speech Movement. Programs and organizations such as Chicago’s JOIN (Jobs or Income Now), SDS (Students for a Democratic Society), and other campus-based political organizations fueled the fight for equality of all ages. Much of the Free Speech Movement’s success can be credited to Mario Savio’s intense speeches. The generation of students in
During the early years of Vietnam War the public support was high. The "fight against communist" was grounds for many public rallies to encourage and support the effort. Despite the high approval rating the US government still released crucial propaganda that displayed communist as the evil of the world. It wasn't until Nixon invaded Cambodia that many protests occurred, mostly by democratic college students that led to the US government censoring American media. During hostile times in the Vietnam War the US government fell to censoring the media in order to lower the amount of opposing riots against the government. During an age of independent journalism, however, the government was not showing the same
By 1968, more than half of the American people relied on television as their principal source of news. What they saw informed, engrossed, and unsettled them. CBS Evening News anchor Harry Reasoner referred to it as “horrors and failures.” The Vietnam War dominated the network newscast as it never had before. Suddenly the war was everywhere. The impact on the American public would indeed be great. It set off a critical reaction to the war within the American media and gave greater credence to arguments against the war that a vocal protest movement had been voicing for some time. The media coverage of the Tet Offensive had a great influence on the eventual outcome of the fighting and its aftermath. Clarence Wyatt, author of Paper
Live coverage of the VC attack on the U.S. embassy in Saigon gave the American
When you think of antiwar movements and pacifism during the Vietnam War, you typically think of peace, love, and hippies. However, there was so much more to the movement, and it impacted an abundant amount of people's lives. Even though there were people who opposed the war, there were a few that supported the government, and the reasoning for the US involvement in this conflict. However, many people viewed the Vietnam War in negative ways, which lead them to execute acts that made a huge statement to the rest of the country, and both the US and Vietnamese governments. Despite unity in opposition to the Vietnam War, Pacifists and anti war groups were unalike in their reasons for opposing the war, the draft, and how they expressed their opposition
The Tet Offensive and Counteroffensive caused horrible impacts on the war through its battles, and causing the deaths of U.S. and South Vietnamese forces, and discouraging future war efforts. The Tet Offensive was a plan forged by the Northern Vietnam forces to strike back and cripple the Saigon government, the government of South Vietnam, and destroy the hope of American Victory. The Northern Vietnamese distracted attention away from from multiple large cities that would be the basis of the attack and got the U.S. to send 50,000 troops to Khe Sanh, the city that many Americans and South Vietnamese were expecting the attack to take place. However, on January 31, 1967, the Northern Vietnamese attacked 36 out of 44 provincial capitals, 64 district capitals, and five major cities (“Tet Brings The War Home 1,2). The Northern Vietnamese’s attack was an attack against, not only against many of South Vietnamese cities and provinces, but also the hopes of the American Government.
How did media coverage of the Tet Offensive impact American policy concerning the Vietnam War?
Did the media change the course of military operations or government decision-making in Vietnam? The War Within: America’s Battle Over Vietnam (1995), by Tom Wells, labelled the media as the “opinion makers.” They decided how to portray the war through news channels, magazines, radio and newspapers. The
The Vietnam War affected greatly the media. This is because the media was mainly used to communicate and spread word about protests and social gatherings. The media was also used by Americans to ensure that their views were heard. This ensured the protest outcome was better. The productivity of protests became increased as more media joined in to relay messages during the protests. In such protests, the government would violate the constitutional rights of the American citizens by preventing them from speaking their minds. This, as stipulated by the constitution on the bill of rights, barred them from enjoying the right of free speech. At that point, the Americans realized that the constitution was bigger than the administration of the government, and they protested even more to ensure that their constitutional privileges were not