Mass Media and the Vietnam War

Mass Media and the Vietnam War

Many people at the beginning and before the Vietnam War were in

confusion on whether going to war was such a good thing; this mainly

consisted of the American public. By the time it had reached the peak

of the war much of the American public had swung towards being for the

war. This was mainly due the mass media at the time, one integral part

of the mass media that often swayed public opinion was television, it

proved to be such an effective method of communication, that it often

shocked and consequently altered public opinion. Television wasn’t the

only form of mass media; there were magazines and the radio. Radio was

a large form of communication at the time as many households could not

afford a television and so radio would be the soul means of keeping up

to date with news from around the globe. Thousands were killed and it

was because of mass media that much of the public were able to

discover that, this switched the American Public a little bit into

being opposed to the war, also hearing about shocking events such as

the My Lai Massacre and the Tet Offensive. The Economic Cost was

extreme as well; taxes were raised to compensate for all the money

wasted after going to war. In the end mass media had swayed public

opinion into being for the war as source m suggests.

The Mass Media consisted of a variety types of media but as most

people would agree, the most powerful part was television. It could

used in so many ways to manipulate the minds of the American Public

and because at the time new technology had meant that television had

now become colour, it was clear to see what was truly going on out

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...e shocking and truthful thing was, it was true. The main turning

points would have to been the Tet Offensive and the My Lia Massacre,

especially the My Lai Massacre. If there hadn’t been shocking images

like those of the My Lai Massacre shown to millions on television then

the American public wouldn’t have known the full extent of the War and

so wouldn’t have decided to go against the war. Television you could

say made a big enough impact that it made the War end how it did. The

president was under pressure from the American public, the soldiers

were becoming more and more worn down and a large majority of this was

due to television. So in conclusion I agree very strongly that

television did play a big part in changing opinions during the Vietnam

War, if it hadn’t been for television it may not have ended how it

ended.