Role Of The Media During The Vietnam War - 2179 Words

Tan Oguz Instructor: Arjun Subrahmanyan HIST 386C 11 December 2014 Final Paper Role of the Media in the Vietnam War Vietnam War is a war that mainly differentiates from any other war in the history of the modern warfare due to the fact that the first time in history the media was able to act without restrictions and had the opportunity to film and record the war from the frontline of the combat zone. Besides the political and military decisions taken at the wartime, media had a impact on changing destiny of the war. In this essay, in order to show the impact of the media on the war, I will try to examine some of the key events of the Vietnam War, such as the Tet-Offensive, and My Lai Massacre. Were there any misconceptions presented by the media about the war? Was media responsible of the US loss in Vietnam? Is the power of media exaggerated at the time of the war? Throughout the essay, these questions will try to be answered in the contexts of specific events. Before the insertion of ground troops in Vietnam, much of the concern in the media had been favoured to the political tactics of reinforcing a non-communist (democratic) government in South Vietnam. After the war changed its direction to heavy ground batlle, a change in coverage also eventuated that the media were more concerned and interested in military conjuncture (Wyatt 1995). By becoming more interested in military aspects of the war, the media became more engaged in actual fight scenes and brutality of theShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Role of Media During the Vietnam War1903 Words   |  8 PagesDuring 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. 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