Vietnam War on Television Essay

The research paper will explore the coverage of the Vietnam War on Television. Taking into account that at the outbreak of the Vietnam War television was a new medium, thousands of Americans relied on broadcasted news as the main source of information about the global events. As the result, the news about the Vietnam War has greatly shaped the opinions of the American nation regarding the pre-war situation (the incentive to start the war), the course of the war (what happened in Vietnam), and after-war (the attitude toward the Vietnam War veterans).

Thus, the research paper will be written in accordance with the following working thesis statement: At the dawn of television media emergence, the coverage of the Vietnam War was subjective as the opinion of the public was manipulated by the government to get the desired reaction from the Americans to support the war. I will hypothesize that the government has a powerful influence over the news media industry. In addition, I will look into the issue of the complicity of soldiers and the government (the motivations of soldiers doing to Vietnam, their expectations, and the results).

In order to explore this topic in-depth, I will focus on two types of sources: 1) journal articles including the opinion of experts on the issue and 2) primary sources such as speeches of prominent politicians of that time and testimonies of the Vietnam War veterans and journalists.

In order to research the coverage of the Vietnam War on television, it is important to address the topic from a wide range of perspectives. In particular, the specific subtopics include the opinion of the politicians on the matter (I hypothesize that the politicians are the key figures in supporting bias in media); testimonies of war correspondents (I think that war correspondents were either aware of the news they had to create or delivered reliable news while the local American agencies modified the message); and the theoretical perspective (was there research done to test the real impact of television coverage of the war on the opinion of public? Has anything changed since that time? Probably, it would be interesting to compare the news coverage of the Vietnam War, at the dawn of the television industry development, and the television images of the Iraq War, the internet-based media environment, and matured television research).

It is of primary importance to refer to the opinion of the soldiers, those people fought the war and witnessed all events. I expect to find a significant gap in testimonies of soldiers on the issue of media coverage of the war. In particular, it is a well-established fact that many Vietnam War veterans have published their memories. Some of the authors praise the American government as a global peace-maker. Others argue that the government deceived both the soldiers and the television audience while the true intentions are still maintained in secrecy. I will make reference to the speeches of prominent politicians during the times of the Vietnam War. Looking into the issues discussed by politicians, I would try to identify the bias or the intended message.

These five specific domains of the topic are intrinsically linked with each other while still presenting absolutely different aspects of the issue. Politicians, journalists, researchers, and soldiers constitute the exclusive group of American society as they were directly exposed to the war events and have a deeper understanding of the battlefield craft, true events of that time, and theoretical understanding of the media industry (limited to journalists, though). Taking into account that these domains of knowledge are rare or impossible to be found in one source or one person, the combination of these five sources of primary information is expected to generate interesting results.

I will refer to the book by Daniel Hallin “The Uncensored War” in which he talks about the Vietnam War as the most divisive and unsuccessful war led by the United States. The book is focused on the role of television in creating the public attitude toward the Vietnam War. I will refer to the idea of military censorship to explore the tools and motivations of the American government in filtering the content of the news. The Vietnam War has resulted in the construction of two narratives: the one was written by the government and the media industry while the second was presented by the Vietnam War veterans. Exploring the differences between the two narratives, I will try to explore the reasons why the differences were common. There is a common belief among the Americans that the Vietnam War has affected the mental health of the soldiers and, as the result, the words and testimonies of the Vietnam War veterans are not trusted. I will argue that the government has contributed to the formation of the opinion that veterans should not be trusted.

Taking into account that the focus of this research paper is to assess the objectivity of the television coverage of the Vietnam War, it is of primary importance to rely on valid and trustworthy sources for argumentation. In this regard, the most objective sources are primary ones. For example, speeches and interviews provide insight into the issues that may not be addressed by the researchers. Moreover, it should be taken into account that secondary articles are not objective even when they refer to primary findings. The secondary articles are based on the personal opinion of the authors. While the personal opinion of the article writers is usually a disadvantage for research paper writing, in my case, the personal opinion of the authors is highly desirable taking into account the focus on ideas and statements of prominent politicians and journalists.

The unique aspect of the primary research is the opinion expressed by journalists about the impact of their profession on the audience. From one side, journalists may not be willing to share the secrets of their profession in an open interview. For example, Ronald Steinman protects the journalists arguing that the news they reported was objective and unbiased. Steinman shifts the responsibility for the biased news (in fact, he does not deny that the news the audience was exposed to was biased) to the government.

Adrian Zupp, a former broadcast journalist in Vietnam, points out that reporters were aware of the impact their news could have on the audience. Moreover, Zupp confesses that from the very beginning the Vietnam War was built on skillful and carefully prepared propaganda and manipulation. While journalists in Vietnam believed in creating news for the audience, the reports the audience was exposed to on television were not based on factual data.

Thus, it is established that the broadcasting reporters were either aware of the biased news or preferred cooperation with the government. The question is: what was the truth about the Vietnam War? Who had access to real information? Conducting the research of the primary sources I have found an interesting document – Intelligence and Reporting Subcommittee of the Interagency Vietnam Coordinating Committee.

The report was prepared by the American agent (the name is unknown) upon the request of the CIA. The report is rather lengthy and provides a thorough overview of the situation in Vietnam in the period of 20 Dec. 1965-6 Jan. 1966.

Evidently, the report includes observations on the key events for the stated period. Therefore, the CIA was fully informed of the situation in Vietnam. What was the role of the CIA in terms of its role in creating biased news? The exploration of this question required additional research.

This choice of sources is determined by the importance of including the first-hand experience of war journalists as they were the ones who created news and reported the events from the battlefield. For example, Nick Turner was a journalist in Vietnam at the time when the United States announced the war. In the reflective article, Turner talks about his experience arguing that the events they reported have never been broadcasted to the American audience. Turner makes the confession that he was aware the news about the Vietnam War were diligently prepared by the team of professionals who made up the news to ensure specific reaction (22). John Attarian’s arguments are in support of statements by Turner. Attarian shows that the President did not have the support of the American nation and it was necessary to impose the idea that war was necessary (288).

In addition to the opinion of journalists, I will focus on the testimonies of Vietnam soldiers, those people who were involved in combating and were knowledgeable about the truth of that time. For example, I will refer to the Winter Soldier Investigation, the transcript of the movie made by Vietnam veterans who shared their experiences. In particular, I will include the transcript of the speech delivered by William Crandell, the Vietnam War veteran, who pointed out that the Vietnam War was a political game and there was no real threat to the peace of the United States. William Crandell shows that the television coverage of the Vietnam War did not depict the truth of the conflict.

Moreover, I will include relevant theories and studies done to explore the impact of television on the audience in terms of war coverage. For example, Pfau et al present the empirical research according to which war news leads to the emotional response of the audience to the images of war broadcasted on television. Thus, I will support my statement with three specific sources of information: interviews/stories of the Vietnam War journalists, testimonies of Vietnam War veterans, and theoretical research.

The development of the argument that television coverage of the Vietnam War was not objective is both practical and theoretical. Integrating three different types of information into the paper, I will prove that the American government manipulates the opinion of the American audience. The paper will challenge the belief that modern media is objective and free of bias.

The research questions are:

1. Was there a difference between news reported by journalists at war and news broadcasted to the audience? Why? What do war journalists tell about this?
2. Did American politicians use television to shape the opinion of the public? What is the impact of television on the opinion of the public? Why was it necessary to shape the opinion of Americans?
3. What do Vietnam War veterans think about their experience in Vietnam? Were they deceived by the government as well? Why were Vietnam War veterans presented as insane by the government to the general public?Table of Contents

Body

1. The theoretical overview: in this section I will briefly cover the issue focusing on the media theories and public opinion manipulation
2. Media through the eyes of war broadcasting journalists – here I will provide specific quotes/opinions as expressed by journalists who covered the Vietnam War
3. The opinion of the Vietnam War veterans – I will try to link the ideas raised by veterans to the points made by journalists to investigate whether there was a gap. In addition, I will talk about the reasons why the Vietnam War veterans were referred to as insane
4. The analysis of speeches made by politicians before, during, and after the Vietnam War. Here I will also look at the public opinion

1. General discussion on the primary research findings and secondary sources
2. Conclusions – short overview of the whole paper and the assessment of the media’s role in modern society. Television coverage of Iraq war and subjectivity in media

References

Attarian, John. “Rethinking the Vietnam War.” World and I 15.7 (2000): 288.

Crandell, William. Winter Soldier Investigation. 2009. Web.

Pfau, Michael, Haigh, Michel, Shannon, Theresa, Tones, Toni, Mercurio, Deborah, Williams, Raina, Binstock, Blanca. “The Influence of Television News Depictions of the Images of War on Viewers.” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 52.2 (2008): 303.

Steinman, Ron. Television’s First War: A Saigon Journal. University of Missouri Press, 2002. Web.

The Situation in South Vietnam. Intelligence and Reporting Subcommittee of the Interagency Vietnam Coordinating Committee. 1966. Web.

Turner, Nick. “Media and War: Reflections on Vietnam Nick Turner Recalls His Experience as a War Correspondent during the Vietnam War.” New Zealand International Review 28.4 (2003): 22.

Zupp, Adrian. “It’s as if there’s no history that matters”. Dissident Voice. 2005. Web.