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Essay / Role of the Media during the Vietnam War the Vietnam War. the Vietnam War. The first source will be Reporting Vietnam: Media & Military at War by William M. Hammond. The main objective of this source is to document and analyze different attributes of reporting from Vietnam. This source claims that the agencies responsible for processing information and reporting at the start of the war did not have significant control over how the media represented the war itself and what limits should be put in place. on the media resulting from the war. war efforts. As Hammond explains, this played an important role in representations of the war and America's interests in the Vietnam War itself. This source questions the journalists' motives and evaluates them carefully, arguing that the media's interests initially represented those of the government, as they were more specifically attempting to illustrate the effects of communism and the potential rise it could have. in a country. like Vietnam. As such, this source is particularly important in addressing the rudimentary causes of the escalation of the war in Vietnam and emphasizes the effects of the media on war efforts in particular. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The following source was from Daniel C. Hallin, titled The Uncensored War: The Media and Vietnam. In this book, Hallin examines the nature of American media and why it had such a profound impact on governance and particularly conflict and the decision to go to Vietnam for war. This essay highlights various studies and references that were conducted to illustrate the authoritative power of the national media during this era and how they were used to significantly regulate public opinion on certain social issues. Hallin also takes the time to summarize how the evolving media portrayal of the war changed as the war itself progressed. Hallin's views are summarized well, and this source manages to draw on different attributes of war rarely examined in depth, such as the depiction of televised violence and public reactions. As such, this source is important because it discusses in detail how the media was able to distort and sculpt these particular stories and how this in turn affected the war efforts in Vietnam. Ron Stienmann's film Inside Television's First War strays from this theme. This source discusses at length the role that television played in the perception of the Vietnam War. Given the importance of television as a media entity during this era, this source plays a pivotal role in showing the impact of television as a news source and what effect that had on the general public. In a 1964 survey, more than 58 percent of the entire American population responded that they received most of their news from television sources. Television thus became the main information medium for the American public during the conflict. As Stienmann explains, key events such as the Battle of Ap Bac, the self-immolation of Buddhist monks, and the Tet Offensive were all described in detail and at length to the public on national television, which in turn brought theiropinions to be heard. changes dramatically when he is presented with the real, unfiltered events that happened in Vietnam. Steinmann's analysis of the impact of television is thorough and well articulated, and given the impact that television has had, it is important as a resource to emphasize the connections between public and the events themselves. The source that will be used is that of Douglas Kinnard, entitled The War Managers. This source is relevant because it shows the events that occurred from the perspective of a high-ranking general and chief of staff during the war, Douglas Kinnard. Kinnard uses his platform to present the various ways in which the Vietnam War failed and what happened to ensure the eventual collapse of public support. Throughout this book, several reports and in-depth interviews with other members of the armed forces during this period reveal a general consensus on the overall nature of the Vietnam War. One of the defining attributes of this assessment was the media's ability to respond to events almost instantaneously as they occurred, and the ability by which the public was able to grasp this information without filter. This source draws on this primary attribute to explain why the Vietnam War received such intense scrutiny and how the media portrayal of these events also had a resounding impact on the war's conclusion. Media reaction to the conflicts in Vietnam initially focused on investigating communist influences in the region, as well as the overall nature of the Cold War itself and how it was fought in foreign territories such as Vietnam. Initially, the conflict was seen as a US attempt to stifle the advances of communism across the world and help curb the effects of countries like China and Russia. The administration was able to largely influence how the overall framework of the war itself was fought, and reporting on the conflict was primarily based on Cold War conditions, as perceived by administration. The attention of the newly elected South Vietnamese president at the time, Ngo Dinh Diem, was largely focused on the anti-communist tendencies he displayed. Yet this was hugely affected when several citizens were killed during an attempted coup against Diem towards the end of the 1960s. Due to this and the nature of how the conflict began to take of the magnitude, several journalists began flocking to Saigon to report directly from the region. . At the time, it was believed that America's intentions were only to maintain a sense of active guidance and help oversee any efforts to maintain stability in the region and keep it free from communist interference. William M. Hammond illustrates this by arguing that initially the media had a different idea of what the United States would do in Vietnam and that as this changed and intensified, so did media coverage of events. . One of these special events was that of the Battle of Ap Bac. The correspondence on this issue gave the impression that there were many questions regarding the conflict, without directly addressing them as such. Although arguably they did not state categorically that American involvement was unlikely to help win the war or that the administration's claims that it was only to stop the war spread of communism were only part of the reason the country got involved, themedia coverage This was enough to cause the Kennedy administration to criticize editors in the United States with what they saw as inaccurate portrayals of events. Yet these depictions and the reactions that followed have created a deep divide between the government and the media, with many individuals and media entities in the United States beginning to believe that the conflict as a whole may have more to say than meets the eye. government was ready to disclose. . This set a precedent for media coverage and correspondence, as many media outlets began backtracking on their support for U.S. military intervention. This became even worse during the Buddhist Crisis of 1963. It was at this time that the Diem government began to view the foreign press and entities within the press as vehement antagonists and began to oppose intervention from foreign media. Although it can be argued that U.S. military officials in Saigon were not forthcoming with the media, many Saigon residents, primarily those who opposed supporting Diem, leaked information about Diem to members of the press. This was a central attribute of Kinnard's book, as it explained how divisions between information released by the government and that reported in Saigon widened, and as such, so did public opinion. The South Vietnamese government had attempted to suppress numerous attempts by resistant Buddhist monks to display their religion, including banning Buddhist flags during celebrations. These events reached a traumatic point when in June 1963, a monk named Thích Quảng Đức set himself on fire, while a photographer was there to capture the image. Despite attempts to suppress the photo's publication, it eventually found its way into media circulation in the United States and heightened the American public's questions about and lack of trust in the South Vietnamese government and, by extension, support from the United States. government. Finally, and perhaps the most defining moment in the division between public support and government motivations and operations, came the depiction of the Tet Offensive. Historically, much of the warfare between the North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, and American allies came from guerrilla operations in the jungles. Yet the Tet Offensive brought conflict to urban areas and exposed serious flaws in America's war efforts. Although the Tet Offensive could be said to have failed in its attempts against the North Vietnamese communists, it was a terrible blow to American public opinion and to the war efforts in general. These efforts were publicly demonstrated to have failed to stop the North's advance toward the South, which was also poorly covered by the White House. It was obvious that they had no advance warning of the events, which resulted in heavy losses. This occurred near the end of a propaganda campaign by the United States government, which had emphasized that the Americans were winning the war, when in reality it was evident that the opposite was true. As a result, the public was hopelessly skeptical of government actions and the dissemination of information. The media covered this attack more significantly than any previous attack, broadcasting the events that occurred and the depth to which the North was able to influence the region with these attacks. Media coverage of the Tet Offensive made the American population aware of a sad reality and, in conjunction with the,.
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