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Post World War II
The Vietnam War was the first war to be covered on American television. Most people trusted the television more than they did other sources because they could view the pictures on the screen. At first, people were not interested in the war and rarely took any notice. Some of them, including the media, supported the war and the American government. Soon however, the views and analysis presented about the war were not pleasant and many people took to the streets to protest against it. The media, and especially television networks, was the focus of the government and the people, with both blaming it for negative reporting. The government blamed the media for concentrating on the antiwar movement that was in progress at the time, thus helping escalate to other parts of the country. The people blamed the media for failing to give a true representation about the condition in Vietnam. They reacted strongly when the media revealed the death toll of the American soldiers in the war and this led to more protests. The media was therefore clearly important in shaping public opinion. It increased the anti war protests that were reported and this affected the popularity of the then President Johnson (Groll, 2007).
The media has indeed influenced people’s perspective regarding the military. Unlike the 1960s when people had limited information, people are now bombarded with information from many sources. They learn about what happens in the instant it happens and this has been enabled by twenty-four hour television news coverage and unlimited access to the internet. The war in Vietnam was largely misrepresented. This reflected badly on the government and on the country as a whole. Because of this, the military and the government put stricter restrictions on the kind of information that would be available to journalists. The media was limited in the details it would expose to the rest of the people. To date, the military mistrusts the media because of the reports in conveys to the people (Groll, 2007). People are divided about America’s involvement in different wars. Some support it claiming that America is protecting itself. Others are opposed to the war and do not understand why the country should spend so much money fighting, when other means of seeking peace can be sought. People have also become more aware of government policies abroad thanks to the media. Their awareness of political issues has increased and they are not willing to believe everything that the government says.
During the war, the media acts as a link between the government, the public and the military. The government is able to influence military decisions as they observe the events on the ground. Despite the public outcry, the military cannot solely be influenced by popular opinion. It has to act based on the best options available. Much as people have a right to know what is happening on the field in times of war, this can damage the efforts of the military if the information is conveyed as it happens. Moreover, it can affect the military strategy in a negative way as it can reveal the military’s strategy to the enemy. Most people contend that war information received instantaneously can only be used for light information purposes.
Meanwhile, some blame America’s defeat in the Vietnam War on the media, as during the time, there was little real-time coverage (Groll, 2007). Real-time coverage of the war is important as it increases accountability. This leaves the government, or other people for that matter, with no time to tell a different story than what is actually on the ground. The world therefore gets the same information at the same time (Adamson, 1997). This was not the case during the Vietnam War. Journalists sometimes presented a different picture from what was actually happening. They sometimes distorted the information or reported wrong and misleading information only to correct it later. Sometimes this had devastating effects as the public relied on that information and they made decisions based on the information they received.
Reference
Adamson, W. M. (1997). The effects of real time new coverage on military decision-making. Retrieved from www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/acsc/adamson.pdf
Groll, M. (2007). Vietnam War coverage on U.S. television newscasts. Germany: GRIN Verlag.
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