The American Media's Influence
The change in the media's coverage influenced America greatly for a few specific reasons. First, in the 1960’s, studies show that the television was the main source of news for households across America. Also, America trusted the television more than newspapers because they could see things with their own eyes versus just reading about it. Second, records show that 86 percent of CBS and NBC nightly news shows covered the war every night, so the war was on everyone’s mind all of the time.
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All this television coverage and the change in reporting not only influenced the common Joe, but also politicians who started using anti-war campaigns to get votes. Because of these dramatic changes, the majority of US citizens withdrew their support of the war. Eventually, the television focused more on political processes related to the war rather than actual combat, and the result was that the soldier was forgotten as issues turned to the home front. Because of this, the only image of American soldiers that the American public was left with was that of one losing the war. Thus, American soldiers were portrayed as villains while the North Vietnamese were shown as heroes. After months of media coverage Americans were convinced Tet was a complete American loss and this view transferred to the whole of the Vietnam War.
Part of an Anti-War Nixon Campaign Ad
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"@#!*% no. we won't go!" |
"Only years later did the news media in retrospective accounts of Tet say what General Westmoreland claimed, historians soon ascertained, and communist veterans of the battle later bitterly conceded: Tet, despite its drama and political success in Washington, was a grave military setback for Hanoi, decimating the Vietcong guerrillas who were suddenly exposed to overwhelming allied firepower." |
"Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America — not the battlefields of Vietnam." |
"We were elated when Jane Fonda, wearing a red Vietnamese dress, said at a press conference that she was ashamed of American actions in the war, and that she would struggle along with us."
~ Bui Tin, North Vietnamese Colonel
Click to Continue to "Short Term Impacts"