Vietnam War Outcome Influenced by the Media - 1510 Words

Term 3 Paper: The Media and Vietnam War The Vietnam War was a war of mass destruction, leaving Vietnam to become bitterly divided and claiming the many lives of Vietnamese civilians as well as American soldiers. Out of all the wars in American history, the Vietnam War was the first war to be broadly televised and covered by the media. It came to be known as the first â€Å"Television War†. Journalists began to pour into Vietnam from all over the nation, to cover the lives of the American Soldiers as well as Vietnamese civilians. As television brought horrendous images of the war into American living rooms, the perception of an American solider as a hero slowly became the image of the American enemy. Thus, the media is a major factor that†¦show more content†¦This led the people to question the purpose of America’s involvement of the war. The media was also used to expose government information regarding the Vietnam War. There was a conspiracy that, an alleged a ttack on the U.S spy ship (USS Maddox) was purposely created to become the pretext for war in Vietnam. Also known as the â€Å"Gulf of Tonkin†, the event granted congress permission to invade Vietnam. American journalist, Nigel Sheehan exposed the documents that told the truth about the start of the war. As a reporter for The New York Times, â€Å"in 1971, Sheehan obtained the classified Pentagon Papers from Daniel Ellsberg.† (Shah). Sheehan collaborated with Ellsberg (a former pentagon staff) to publish the series of articles that contained the history of the U.S involvement in the war. The official secret history of the war would reveal that â€Å"administration officials had drafted the gulf of Tonkin resolution themselves, two months before the attack of Maddox.†(Shah). This caused the people to become outraged, censuring the government for the start of the war instead of the Viet Cong. An article from Media Beat in 1994, explains that the â€Å"heavy rel iance on U.S government officials as sources of information and reluctance to question official statements on national security issues, led to a lot of inaccurate media reporting† (Langer 256). Many stories about atrocities of the war were witnessed,Show MoreRelatedWhat Evidence Exists to Demonstrate That the American Media Coverage of the Vietnam War Influenced Its Outcome?2591 Words   |  11 Pages‘Television brought the brutality of the war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America – not on the battlefields of Vietnam.’ (Marshall McLuhan, 1975). What evidence exists to demonstrate that the American media coverage of the Vietnam War influenced its outcome? There are only two comprehensive inferences that can be drawn upon when assessing the impact and legacy of the reporting of the Vietnam War on America and its media; the impact was enormous and itsRead MoreThe War Of The Vietnam War Essay1158 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"The war in vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit.† Martin Luther King, Jr. once said. The Vietnam War was considered one of America’s greatest defeats of all time. Not only did the US failed to stop the spread of communism, but they also embarrassed this country as a whole with the outcome of this war. The overall outcome from this war will be remembered for years to come. In this essay, I will be talking about how the United States would have won the VietnamRead MoreWhat Did The Media Reporting Of The Tet Offensive Influence Us Crucial Decision Making?1314 Words   |  6 Pagesdid the media reporting of the TET offensive influence US crucial decision making in 1968. â€Å"Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room.† Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian philosopher of communication theory, told the Montreal Gazette in 1975. Vietnam is often referred to as the television war and it’s been widely said that the outcome of the war was decided not on the battle field but on the television screen. Today I will be exploring the extent to which media reportingRead MoreMedia and American Withdrawal From Vietnam Essay1745 Words   |  7 PagesMedia and American Withdrawal From Vietnam The history of Vietnam is characterised by struggles for independence since French rule in 1859 after the French took Saigon, and a great ability in warfare and continual determined resistance to foreign domination. Major military involvement by American armed forces came after events such as Russian communist revolution in 1917 and the Korean War in the 1950s; these events put the America people in a period of moral panic Read MoreThe Vietnam War : We Can Not Understand War Without Understanding Culture1267 Words   |  6 PagesThe Vietnam War â€Å"We cannot understand war without understanding culture† â€Å"Involvement in two world wars and the Cold War transformed America into a â€Å"crusader state† convinced of the superiority of its institutions and way of life and intent on imposing them on the outside world. † Whether fought at home or abroad every war is to impact all parties involved. Such example of staggering influence on one country’s culture is no more evident then in America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Upon enteringRead MoreWhy Did the Us Lose the War in Vietnam? Essays1497 Words   |  6 Pagesdid the US lose the war in Vietnam? Answer with reference to the concept of insurgency/guerrilla warfare. The longest war in the history of the United States of America has taken place in Vietnam during the Cold War. â€Å"The US fear of a communist Europe led them to intervene in a war that was not seen in a vital importance or that would not be in the country`s interest to gain any advantage† (Bernstein 1987/8, p. 86). One of the main reasons why the US lost the war in Vietnam was the lack of preparationRead MoreThe Impact Of Public Opinion On U.S. Foreign Policy Since Vietnam1692 Words   |  7 PagesSince the Vietnam War, the publics opinion has played major roles in how policymakers operate. Their opinions may not always support to choices which are best for the country, however they are still factored into the decision making. Richard Sobel discusses several cases on how the publics attitudes have affected policymakers decisions in his book, The Impact of Public Opinion on U.S. Foreign Policy Since Vietnam. During the Persian Gulf War, public opinion ultimately shaped policy. HowRead MoreCommitment Trap1030 Words   |  5 PagesWith regards to Vietnam under Kennedys presidency, there are many arguments both for and against the idea of commitment trap, Kennedy certainly escalated military involvement in Vietnam but did he have a choice? Or had his predecessors committed him in Vietnam long before he came into the Whitehouse? There is no doubt that Johnson was the one who fully placed ground troops in Vietnam in 65 and created his legacy of Johnsons war, but did any of the previous presidents give him any other optionRead MoreVietnam War and the Media Essay2813 Words   |  12 Pagesof the ‘guilty media’ thesis in respect of any war of your choice Natasa Perdiou The Vietnam War was the first war that allowed uncensored media coverage resulting in images and accounts of horrific events that served to shape public opinion of the war like nothing that had been seen before. This portrayal by the media led to a separation between the press and the U.S. government, as much of what was reported defied the intentions of government policy. The media has fell blame byRead MoreEssay on War and the Media2546 Words   |  11 PagesIn 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