From the beginning of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, there was a presence of the

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1 Bannasch 1 Robert Bannasch Holder / Lopez American Literature 14 November 2010 Anti War: Vietnam Media Coverage From the beginning of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, there was a presence of the anti-war movement amongst the citizens of America in opposition to the role their government was playing in Indochina. This opposition, that would steadily grow in numbers as the war progressed, continually called for greater acknowledgement of public opinion towards decisions made about the war. As the Tet Offensive was launched in 1968, media coverage of the war began to increase, allowing greater access to the horrifying realities of combat. As media influenced the public about the immorality of war, the anti-war movement gained momentum to a point where it was actually able to impact U.S. government decisions. In the beginning of the war, media was not used to go against it like it was following the Tet Offensive. During the offensive, people of the U.S. saw that the Vietcong could launch an effective assault, even though they had been hearing that their country was making progress in this fight against communism. The media was a gateway for the people in America to both humanize what the Vietnam War was, and to raise questions about the way the progress that their country was actually making in the war. The Vietnam War was a big controversy because America, one of the leading world powers, split a nation into two. This may have happened strictly from the media showing the war, put the war on a personal level, people could see young men on both sides dying and suffering through harsh conditions just to help their country gain a few resources. It brought the "horror of war" night after night into people's living rooms and eventually inspired revulsion and exhaustion. (Hallin) People were eventually exhausted by having to see

2 Bannasch 2 people get killed and commit murder on civilians of Vietnam. No one wanted to see the immoral things be done to people, because they could have just as easy been those people being killed by invading soldiers. Once the media went against the war, the war might as well have just stopped, because that is when people wanted the government to stop trying to fix the problems of other countries and focus on the homeland. Pentagon Papers, revealed by journalists, contained numbers from the war that included far higher rates of American casualties and far less successful battles than the officially released government statistics had indicated. (Hall) The media also showed just how much the government had lied about what was happening over in Vietnam. The government said there was an enormous amount of progress being made, and we were winning the war. However the media showed the advancement of Americas casualty rate. They showed that the Vietnamese could launch large assaults on us even though we had destroyed most of the communist support. This made the public lose confidence and trust in their government. Before the Vietnam War, the media's job was to keep the American listeners and readers optimistic and panic free. (Hall) Now that the media had started to do the opposite of their job, the U.S. had nothing to keep the citizens optimistic and panic free. In this, the media failed to do its intended job. They did exceed in their primary objective, to inform the public about what was happening on the front lines, so that people would realize that war was not a glorious event but tragic. Therefore it was logical during the Vietnam War for people to oppose, they had no one reassuring them that the war was going to pull through. The Tet Offensive was a major turning point during the war, even though the enemy failed to succeed. Up to that point the media showed battles that made it look like America was

3 Bannasch 3 making progress in Vietnam. The president said America was making progress. Military officials fed our government with statistics that our soldiers were starting to double progress. Some Folks were born made to raise the flag it ain t me. (Creedence) This song was made in protest of the draft. At this time in the Vietnam War there were so many people against the draft, even celebrities such as Muhammad Ali evaded the draft. No one wanted to be in the military, when they had nothing against Vietnam. They wanted out. The music industry boomed during the Vietnam War, because music is a tool that is very influential in every culture. While American boys were fighting over in Vietnam to stop communism, more fortunate lucky American boys were fighting in America to stop the Vietnam War. Eventually government officials began to join the anti war movement in America. Robert McNamara, Secretary of defense for the U.S. during Vietnam, resigned from his position so that he could join the anti war movement. He took full responsibility for the Vietnam War because if he had realized before the U.S. got involved in Vietnam he could have told President LBJ that it wasn t an important war. However that is the exact opposite occasion that happened, McNamara told the president that the war was crucial to stop communist expansion in Southeast Asia. By the time McNamara realized the war was unwinnable and unnecessary it was too late, the U.S. was to deeply involved in the war. President LBJ wanted to back out of the war, but he was too involved, he couldn t just tell the South Vietnamese that he would protect them and then leave; he had to follow through his commitment. The 2 nd most major event was the Kent State Massacre on May 4 th Once the media released this footage the U.S began to see military personnel as murderers. From then on protesters all over the U.S., hippies, politicians, Yippies, doubled their efforts to end the war, but also disrespected the military in many different ways. In response to Kent State, a massive

4 Bannasch 4 protest was held in Washington D.C, also there was a student strike of 4 million students, high school and college. Some business owners wouldn t even hire some of the Vietnam War veterans. Some went to certain extremes while some just didn t do anything to show their hatred. In conclusion the media supported the anti war movement, and its progress by spreading the events, the truth, and the horror of the Vietnam War. Without the media playing the role it did during the Vietnam War, the anti war movement would not have been as strong as it was. No one would have seen the war on a personal level. The government would have kept lying to the people. The public would ve never seen the horrors of war, and would still see it as a glorious event. But, the U.S. may have been able to win the war had it had the citizen s support. We will never know the what if s or the could have s of the Vietnam War, all we will ever know is that it was an eye opening experience to the public of the U.S.A. Most of all, without the media, the US would never have gotten the news from the war as fast as they did, so without the immediate spread of information, the public would have started to turn against the war at a later time. Which would have made the war stretch on to a later date.

5 Bannasch 5 Works Cited "American Experience Vietnam Online Primary Sources PBS." PBS. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept < Books, Time-Life, and Richard B. Stolley. Turbulent Years: The 60s (Our American Century). New York: Time-Life Books, Print. "How Media Coverage of the Vietnam War Changed America, Journalism - Associated Content associatedcontent.com." Associated Content - associatedcontent.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept < m_war.html?cat=37>. Kent Mayor Leroy Satrom. "Kent State shootings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept < "Opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept "Television Coverage Of The Vietnam War And Its Implications For Future Conflicts." GlobalSecurity.org - Reliable Security Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept < "VIETNAM ON TELEVISION - The Museum of Broadcast Communications." The Museum of Broadcast Communications. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept <

6 Bannasch 6 Mcnamara, Robert S.. In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. New York: Vintage, Print. Williams, Eddie. Vietnam Execution Vietnam Execution, Vietnam. MyMediaFeed. Web. 28 Sept