The Vietnam War: Analysis of Media Representation in America

Introduction

“Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America-not on the battlefields of Vietnam” (McLuhan, 1975). The Vietnam War was not the bloodiest or most expensive war, but it left a lasting wound on the hearts of many Americans. The Vietnam War had extensive media coverage of burning bodies, children crying, and American flags being burned. For many Americans, the Vietnam War is a constant reminder of how gruesome and extreme war really is. The press granted a key role in the view of the Vietnam War both negatively and positively. To explore the role of media in the Vietnam War, this essay will analyze the representation of the war in the American media.

The Vietnam War became a common element in many American homes and became a topic of discussion in both a negative and positive light. With no forms of censorship, Americans coined the war “the first television war,” with graphic images and first-hand accounts from reporters. For the first time, media began playing a crucial role in covering all aspects of the war which brought mixed responses from the public. Unfortunately, the extensive coverage of the war also created a divide on supporting the war or being against it. Anti-war protests and riots created a strong tension towards war that will forever affect the history of the United States. Media will always have the power to influence people in any way possible.

Inquiries regarding the role of the news media during Vietnam are as basic as questions about the war itself. Did the press plant false news coverage and glamorize the war and how did it affect American media representation? Whenever Americans turned on their televisions or read the newspaper, the Vietnam War was the only headlines they saw and was something that they couldn’t escape.

Media and The Vietnam War

With context, The Vietnam War was one of the longest and most graphic wars in American history before the war in Afghanistan. On September 2, 1945, Vietnam declared independence from France causing Vietnam to become vulnerable to anti-democracy rebels and the spread of communism from neighboring countries. Though there are multiple factors that caused the war, the treaty signed in July 1954 at the Geneva conference split Vietnam in half which pinned North Vietnam against South Vietnam and the United States as an ally. Starting in 1955, The communist forces gained power in the north and aimed towards illuminating anyone that stood in their way. The United States entered cautiously by funding financial support, but then it turned into sending small military assistance. By 1965, the United States was fully submerged into the war. There was an estimated 2 million total military death from all countries involved and 1 million civilian deaths reported. (Tet Offensive 2009).

Journalism and war have always been hand-in-hand whether reporting was used in a truthful manor to inform or to humor its readers through propaganda. For the first time, journalism was pushed into the spotlight as many reporters traveled to Vietnam to acquire the real truth. During the early days of the Vietnam War, journalist reports were very positive and optimistic. This attitude originated from the journalistic style that had been utilized in the previous American wars of the twentieth century and furthermore from sheer enthusiastic help for the United States (Phinney 2011). War correspondents gave a mixture of good and bad information which still strongly favored the American troops.

By the mid-1960s, Television become a common item throughout every American Home and the best source for news meant for the public (Hur 2018). Television surpassed newspapers as the best source of information. Over 30% of Americans found TV to be the most reliable source than newspaper (Hur, 2018). With a large new audience, it allowed the viewers to feel as if they were there up close and personal. This was the first time that Americans saw live footage of their soldiers being killed or injured through film and news coverage and was an extreme shock. Compared to print medium, television focused more on the negative aspects of the war. Television was given a power that no other war had received and for most Americans, it felt as though this war was more personal than any of the previous ones. It was given two abilities: as a visual representation and a source that focuses on the negative sides of issues.

Journalists finally met there match once television became popular and soon realized that news organizations were the best places to have their information be heard. Journalists during this time used two main outlets for information: The soldiers in the line of action and the White House officials. During this time, they followed the rule of reporting on events that interested or shocking to them and drag it out as long as possible. Media was like any other business, you had to find what the public liked to hear and make it as scandalous and extreme as possible. Vietnam war journalists were given the opportunity to freely follow or even join military forces and observe their lives on the frontlines. News organizations such as CBS and NBC evening news expanded from fifteen minutes to half an hour and began hiring more and more journalists that would later volunteer to work on sight in Vietnam (Hallin 1986).

Furthermore, multiple television personalities became popular and provided commentary for the events happening in Vietnam both with true facts and reports from the frontlines. Walter Cronkite became a household name in the nightly news community. A known straight shooter, he reported for CBS and was one of the first news anchors to bring the entire truth of the war to the American public. Television was notorious for focusing on the negative aspects of the war compared to print. Television stations were in constant competition for views and ratings which was not something that newspapers had to worry too much about. The Vietnam War and television news became inseparable. More than half of Television coverage was focused on the war and war efforts, but soon it would shift, and support would decrease. Since there was a lack in censorship within the military, many journalists would follow the military combat into war and report on some of their observations by word or with the help of photography. Graphic images were planted all over newspapers and by the evening news.

By fall of 1967, support was diminishing, but the turning point was during the Tet Offensive in January 1968. The Northern Vietnamese soldiers swept through many Vietnamese cities as an attempt at intimidating the Southern Vietnamese and to encourage the United States to withdraw from the War. In reality, this was a victory for the U.S. because it weakened the North, but television stations portrayed the attack as a defeat for the United States. Reporters such was Walter Cronkite of CBS stated of the incident, “'To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past.to say that we are mired in a bloody stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory conclusion (McLaughlin 2018).” After this whole incident, journalists become harsher on American war efforts and combat scenes were more graphic and intense. No longer was this war trying to inform the American people, but as a form of entertainment.

The intensely negative coverage of the conflict affected not only the soldiers but both politicians and the public. As the war stretched on, soldiers on the front lines began to question why they were still fighting and began to question the governments intentions. Many Americans depended on news coverage to understand and see the war with their own eyes. The scenes of death and self-destruction became a huge cause for concern especially within families who had their sons sent off to fight. After the Tet Offensive, evening news declined their coverage of the war from 90% to 61% (McLaughlin 2018).

The incident regarding My Lai was also perhaps the most damaging occurrence that could have happened for the reputation of U.S. soldier’s. It was reported that they had initially killed 100 enemy soldiers, but it was later reported that over 350 civilians were killed including Women and Children (McLaughlin 2018). For the first time, Americans were exposed to photographs of piles of bodies on the roads after the massacre. The massacre may have never been reported if Ronald Ridenhour who was serving in the American division had not heard of the incident from other soldiers. As an aspiring journalist, he interviewed a few men and wrote some of his conversations in a letter to some congress members. Another soldier who was part of the My Lai Massacre published color photos that documents how gruesome it was (Al Jazeera 2018). What wasn’t widely reported were the stories of the women and children raped during the massacre. The American solders raped women and girls, some as young as 12, and then murdered them (Hodierne 2019). Both occurrences became the leading stories from the war and also introduced that concept of war crimes.

Despite the fact that the media had been covering the anti-war movement for a while, it was now heavily dominating the war itself. Since the uncensored photos were a topic of “old news,” there was new footage of draft-card burnings and multiple riots that broke out all across the United States. For the first time, television was no longer focused on the war itself but on the politics surrounding it. It was clear though that by the tail end of American involvement in the war, many Americans had formed an opinion on the war due to popular opinion. Around this time, public polls became a popular occurrence and as the years went on, more and more Americans saw the war as a “mistake” (Hess 2015, p.150-151).

The anti-war movement took its full course from 1965-71 becoming a nationwide campaign and became the largest and longest anti-war campaign. People that walked in these protests were not just anti-war, but they were also against the communist movement and the financial cost of the war. Many of those pushing this movement were University students, but a few were part of the middle-class and labor unions (Janík & Hodboďová). In October of 1967, more than 35,000 Americans marched in front of the Pentagon staging a protest and argued that civilians needed to be spared in the fight against Vietnam and that the United States was defending a corrupt dictatorship (Vietnam War 2009). In 1970, a joint operation involving the United States and South Vietnam invaded Cambodia and later an invasion of Laos. Both invasions were a violation of the international law which created a new flood of protest Universities all across America. One of the most headlined protests took place on May 4th, 1970 at Kent State University in Ohio. The protests got so out of hand that the National Guards shot and killed four students. Just 10 days later another two students were killed at Jackson State University in Mississippi (Vietnam War 2009).

Lessons of The Vietnam War

The end of the Vietnamese War was a key guide in leading Americans into international conflicts in the future. War has an extreme effect on the society as a whole and how they view their country in terms of right vs. wrong. When the media televised the chaos of the war, it helped to decrease support and foreshowed how Americans would respond to televised war. After the war, military leaders and politicians had to find ways on how to change the way that war was portrayed to the public. Before the 1972 election, Richard Nixon moved to completely abolish the Draft and create a more sufficient form in a sort of “Selective Service.” After the war, there was a drastic gap in age and a majority of those that were drafted were mostly teenagers and early twenty-year-old. Nixon also recognized the significance of lowering the age to vote to 18 years old going behind the cliché phrase, “if 18-year-olds could be drafted then they can vote” (deLeon 2015). This would later help Nixon to win his re-election in 1972 with 55% of the new young votes casting their ballet for him. For many veterans that arrived back home after the war, some were belittled and were mocked for their involvement not only from the public, but from their family. Some were called “baby-killer” or “drug-takers” (McLaughlin 2018). Vietnam war veterans were one of the most hated veterans in U.S. history and one of the first to not have their own welcoming parade.

The big lesson that many Americans learned from the war was the impact of media in terms of its power within exposing the United States Government. During the war, there were multiple occasions where decisions within the war were made behind closed doors and once the war ended all of this information was released to the public and this is when Americans felt the most betrayed. Though the media wasn’t always portraying the whole entire truth, many Americans formed their own opinions on wither this war was fought on the intentions of helping the South Vietnamese or if it was to pursue their own interest. After reading multiple accounts of some of the most unthinkable actions that were taken towards many of the Vietnamese civilians, plenty of Americans felt deeply troubles by the fact that it diminished they “perfect” reputation. It exposed some extreme defects in their character and planted them as in-human.

The United States always placed themselves at the top of the scale in terms of being the savior of the world and after seeing and hearing stories, it was shameful. In this new era of America, it’s evident that many Americans want to forget about the tragedies that happened in Vietnam, but its impressive to push aside that moment where the United States felt ashamed. Through these events, Americans have been able to grow and portray a more gracious and sensitive side to war. Defeat was something evident and it caused a tidal wave of second-guessing about what the United States role was in the world. The defeat finished America's innocence about its role on the world and broke the once-esteemed conviction that the United States consistently made the best choice globally. This defeat undermined for a considerable length of time America's confidence in its very own capacity and harmed the validity of the administration the same number of citizens felt deluded by Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon. Though the media wasn’t fully to blame, many Americans tried to push the blame on reporters and news casts for causing their defeat.

Conclusion

The wounds of Vietnam ran deep and was a large ego blow which has left many to wonder the sheer power of the media. From the start of the war, Americans were indifferent to whether to support of oppose the war, but there was a quick shift once media exposed the truth. Americans increasingly relied on visual communication during the situation in Vietnam. Television coverage and news journalists brought the footage up close and personal on their screen, yet they weren’t able to fully reflect on what it was like in war. Images of death and pain became the face of the war and pushed Americans to speak about on what they were witnessing. Extreme conflicts like the Vietnam war cannot be compressed into small thirty minutes news segments. For the first time, a new form of journalism came into American households and were planted on screens in every home. News personalities became a household name and told Americans the truth behind the Vietnam War.

After the Tet Offense and the My Lei Massacre, news media portrayed American soldiers as complete monsters and most American began to lose hope on the cause. The media unfortunately played both roles in glamorizing the war and disowning the war. In both aspects, many American’s didn’t know the severity and seriousness of the war, but it wasn’t till the tail end when the truth unfolded. The American media planted biased stories on the war efforts and planting a misconception of the tragedies and hardships that many of the soldiers enduring and the civilians of Vietnam. The Vietnam War changed the landscape of media and journalism by forced them to be more sensitive and critical to how they covered wars. Through the powers of media, Americans have since conformed and attuned to the cautions of disclosing and allowing too much information to be disclosed within media during conflicts that involve the United States.

References

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