The Impact of the Media on the Vietnam War

1726 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Why did america get involved in vietnam

The Impact of the Media on the Vietnam War

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.

For the sake of conciseness, and in order to focus the bulk of the content on the main topic, this essay will make certain assumptions. Most importantly, the essay assumes that the conflict in Vietnam was, indeed, lost by the US. It also presupposes that � due to the political climate in the US � the war itself was unavoidable. Finally, the essay takes for granted that the reader has a basic knowledge of the reasons and major events behind the US military intervention in Vietnam from the mid-1950s until 1975.

In the late 1960s, the low-intensity conflict in Indochina that had been in progress since the end of the Second World War became a full-scaled war. In order for the transition from low-intensity conflict to war to have taken place, a change in the public opinion surrounding the war must have taken place, resulting in the politicians of the time having support for the conflict. When the invasion was initiated, it was proved that the politicians in effect had the press in their pockets: the American press was not asking why there was a need for intervention, but rather how the logistics and economics of the invasion would fit together (Herman & Chomsky 1988).

Escalation of conflict

The US media did not become interested in the conflict until November 1960, when the US troops stationed in Saigon suffered a spectacular failure during a hunt for a small group of rebels: approximately 400 civilians were killed by American troops. With the conflict suddenly caught in the media spotlight, a small group of war correspondents were sent to Vietnam. The reporters were from the NYT, Herald Tribune, AP , UPI , Reuters and AFP . Stringers and / or reporters from Newsweek, Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph and the Observer soon followed. (Knightly 1975) Eventually � when the conflict escalated further � “Indochina was flooded with war correspondents” (Herman & Chomsky 1988, 193)

Warfare can be conducted for many reasons. In the case of the Vietnam conflict, the conflic...

... middle of paper ...

...; The media showed what happened, no more. And what was going on in Vietnam was not pretty, as with most other wars. It is safe to say that the media did not lose the war, but rather expressed the feeling that the US soldiers were dying by the thousands without a good reason.

As Melnick quite profoundly summarises it: “Nobody wants to die for somebody else’s country, and that’s what it boiled down to”.

Works cited:

Albig, W (1939) Public Opinion New York: McGraw-Hill

Cook, M et al. (2001) Tet Offensive http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=tet+offensive

Herman, E.S. and Chomsky, N (1988) Manufacturing Consent: The political economy of the mass media New York: Pantheon Books

Kennedy, W.V (1993) The Military and the Media: Why the Press Cannot Be Trusted to Cover a War. New York: Praeger Publishers

Knightly, P (1975) The First Casualty London: Pan Books

Lugo, J (8 Oct 2002) Lecture: Manufacturing consent and public opinion. Liverpool John Moores University

Melnick, Mark (12 Oct 2002) Interview via e-mail: Media and Vietnam

Schulzinger, R.D. (1998) A time for war: The United States and Vietnam, 1941-1975 New York: Oxford University Press

Show More
Related

  • Mark Atwood Lawrence´s The Vietnam War: A Concise International History

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Vietnam War: A Concise International History is a strong book that portrays a vivid picture of both sides of the war. By getting access to new information and using valid sources, Lawrence’s study deserves credibility. After reading this book, a new light and understanding of the Vietnam war exists.

    Read More

  • The Battle of Long Tan

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Stories of the Vietnam War Illustrated in O’Brien’s The Things They Carried

    830 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • American Intelligence After World War II

    2548 Words  | 6 Pages

    Prados, John. Safe for Democracy The Secret Wars of the CIA. Chicago, IL: Ivan R Dee, Publisher, 2006.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The CIA

    1016 Words  | 3 Pages

    “President Bush has stated that about a hundred detainees were held under the Central Intelligence Agency secret detention program, about a third of whom were questioned using “enhanced interrogation techniques. The CIA has a way of very publicly blowing their cover seeming to pop up wherever turmoil, and political problems arise. The CIA exists to prevent threats, its operations involve covert actions or spying through various means to gather critical intelligence data. The CIA dates back to 1947. The qualifications and skills are above average. The job of the CIA is to anticipate and quickly assess rapidly evolving international developments and their impact, both positive and negative, on US policy concerns. When researching the career of

    Read More

  • The USA Should NOT Have Entered the Vietnam War

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    Only in the Vietnam War was the United States’ participation criticized. This is such a gigantic change from prior wars that it bears study as to why it happened, and better yet, should have it happened. This paper will discuss the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, by asking the simple question, Should have the United States’ gotten involved in the first place? This paper will prove that, in fact, America should not have gotten involved in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War took place between 1947- 1975.

    Read More

  • Dereliction of Duty, by McMaster

    942 Words  | 2 Pages

    This book would be an excellent source for anyone wanting to understand this period of the entrance into the Vietnam War. It is a great look into the character of each of the participants. It also would benefit those who are studying and learning how to develop strategy and policy for future wars that the United States may involve itself.

    Read More

  • The Rise And Fall Of The KGB In America

    676 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “Spies: the Rise and fall of the KGB in America”, John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr, and Alexander Vassiliev base their information off of a collection of documents that belonged to the KGB. The archives provide the most complete report of Soviet espionage in America ever written. Along with a general look into espionage strategies and the motives of Americans who spied for Stalin, this book settles specific controversies. “Spies: the Rise and Fall of the KGB in America” reveals numerous American spies who were never even under suspicion and also identifies the last unaccounted for nuclear spies who were American. This source focused greatly on Soviet infiltration of the U.S. government, and Haynes, Harvey, and Vassiliev convey why and how penetration contributed to the success and failure of the KGB throughout the Cold War.

    Read More

  • The Effect of Mass Media on Americans during the Vietnam War

    1118 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Effect of Mass Media on Americans during the Vietnam War When the war initially began, Dean Rusk, US Secretary of State, pointed out that: "This was the first struggle fought on television in everybody's living room every day... whether ordinary people can sustain a war effort under that kind of daily hammering is a very large question. " The us administration, unlike most governments at war, made no official attempt to censure the reporting in the Vietnam war. Every night on the colour television people not only in America but across the planet saw pictures of dead and wounded marines. Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America--not on the battlefields of Vietnam."

    Read More

  • Public Sentiment Regarding the Vietnam War

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wells, Tom. The war within: America's battle over Vietnam. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1994.

    Read More

  • Discuss The Impact Of Climate Change On Rice Production

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    While it is evident that climate change will greatly affect temperature and precipitation over the coming decades, these changes in patterns will also have numerous effects on agriculture as extreme weather events can lead to disruptions within the food system. Climate change will make it more difficult to produce enough food for the world’s increasing population due to the alterations of planting and harvesting times, as well as the accessibility and quality of water. The USDA Technical Report found that increases in temperature, coupled with more variable precipitation, would reduce productivity of crops, with these effects outweighing any benefits of increasing CO2 (Murray 4). Along with the reduction of crop productivity will be an increase

    Read More

  • Climate Change and Agriculture

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    Recently, there was a news about multiple farmers’ suicide in Southern part of India as a result of annual crop failure. In areas like southern India, these incidences are quite relevant as the climate there is always dry and arid. But it gets shocking when crops deteriorates some other developed nations. The rate of crop failure is increasing and is becoming more relevant everywhere. Agriculture failure is affecting almost all agrarian areas. No other factors contribute more to this catastrophe than the climate change, also known as global warming. The elevation in the Earth’s average temperature as a result of burning fossil fuels and other natural or human activities produces carbon dioxide, which acts like a heat trapping gas and affects the earth in various ways. Among the most affected areas of climate change, agricultural sector is facing some serious threats through factors like increasing temperature, extreme precipitation, and droughts, etc. Today, agriculture comprise most of the world food supply, but the rising global warming is rapidly limiting the production around the globe.

    Read More

  • Central Intelligence Agency Analysis

    1065 Words  | 3 Pages

    When people think of intelligence there is a particular agency within the United States Government that has the greatest name recognition. That agency known to most is the Central Intelligence Agency, or as most would recognize as the CIA. Without an in depth knowledge of the CIA many would assume the agency has been around for a long time. Interestingly that is not the case. The United States has been in the intelligence business since 1775 when George Washington paid an unidentified agent to live in Boston and report any secret correspondence on the movement of the British (America Public University, 1996). However. It was not until the National Security Act of 1947 that the Central Intelligence Agency was created as an independent Agency

    Read More

  • Agriculture And Climate Change Essay

    1420 Words  | 3 Pages

    The backbone of a stable nation, socially and politically, is agriculture. Agriculture is the largest sector that provides a nation with food and employment. Agriculture is currently being affected by climate change and at the same time it is also a contributor to climate change. The drastic elevations in climate change started from the mid to late 20th century and they have been increasing since then (Boisvenue & Running 2006). Climate change is affecting agriculture by interfering with the efficiency of crop production. Agriculture is facing droughts, flooding, sea level elevations, natural disasters, and health hazards for employees. All of these exponents lead to crop failure that creates famines and food prices to rise. On the other side, agriculture is also contributing to climate change through their output of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints. These are caused by the activities that agriculture engages with such as breeding of livestock, ploughing of fields, deforestation, and the use of pesticides and other agrochemicals. Climate change affects countries differently, mainly due to their ability to adapt and their geographical location. Canada and Russia benefit from the changes in climate while Sudan and Bangladesh are affected negatively, struggling to adapt. Agriculture and climate change are interrelated processes that exist mutually making it harder to reduce one without affecting the other.

    Read More

  • Global Warming and Agriculture

    1271 Words  | 3 Pages

    The most important factor in the success or failure of a harvest is a sufficiently moist soil during the growing season. A global increase in atmospheric temperatures most probably will cause a general increase in the frequency and duration of droughts and heavy rains, both damaging to agricultural crops. Extended droughts, such as the massive drought of the 1930s known as the ?Dust Bowl,? have throughout history been the causes of massive crop failures. As the Earth?s temperature continues to rise, water supply problems will become more and more o...

    Read More

More about The Impact of the Media on the Vietnam War

Open Document