Media's Role In The Vietnam War

Vietnam was the longest war in American history and the most popular American war of the 20th century. It resulted in nearly 60,000 American deaths and in 2 million Vietnamese deaths. Even today, many Americans still ask whether the American effort in Vietnam was necessary or whether it was a noble cause, if it failed to protect the South Vietnamese from totalitarian government. The Vietnam War fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and South Vietnam, backed by the U.S., from November 1, 1955 until April 30, 1975.(Tucker, 12) North Vietnam wanted to unite Vietnam under one Communist government, since it had previously been a French colony. However, the anti-Communist government of South Vietnam resisted this
25) This was especially true in the Vietnam War. During the war, media’s role was changing to become another check and balance for the U.S government. Throughout this era, the media, at first, supported the government and eventually ended up exposing its flaws by reporting the truth. For the first time in American history, U.S citizens began to question the actions of its government. The events of the war and the effect it had on media eventually led many defenders of U.S policies to believe that the media and its lack of censorship aided in the loss of the Vietnam War. In his memoirs, President Nixon, himself, went so far as to blame the loss of the Vietnam War squarely on the shoulders of the media. However, this was a false claim because in the early stages of the Vietnam War the media largely supported the war effort and U.S policies.(.Hallin, 68) The reasons as to why media coverage changed during the war was largely due to technological advancements, the decrease of public support because of cultural, social, and political changes, and the diminishing morale of the American soldier due to the stalemate of the