Media Coverage

The Media and Vietnam

The American military action in Vietnam forever changed how American foreign policy is shaped and executed . A primary reason for this change was the involvement of the media in both reporting the conflict , and reporting on the political activities surrounding the conflict . It is clear that the media has a high level of effect on the perception of citizens of American military actions in Vietnam . While magazines and newss published many persuasive accounts , it was coverage on television that had the most influence on the opinions of Americans

, and consequently , the actions of political leaders

Newss have long been a source of information about the conduct activities , and progress of American wars (Rhodes , 2008 ) In terms of what was published , the government , pursuant to the First Amendment could not have much influence (Rhodes , 2008 ) However , until the Korean conflict , it was the inclination of news publishers to be much muted in criticizing U .S . War efforts , and very careful about publishing details that would be harmful to the reputation of the American military (Rhodes , 2008 ) This was done primarily for two reasons . The fist is that patriotism sold newss better than anti-war rhetoric prior to the Korean conflict (Rhodes , 2008 ) The second reason is that despite the wording of the First Amendment , the Government exercised a great deal of control of the content for the news (Rhodes , 2008 ) Thus unflattering tales of foreign war efforts were kept to a minimum . In the case of Vietnam , in...