Impact

The Vietnam War was a historic moment in the history of journalism, as well as the communication between national media and the public. Vietnam was the first broadcasted war. This showed Americans the horrors of war first hand. The communication of the gruesome truth about the war from frontline journalists, drastically contrasted the deceptively optimistic perspective the U.S. government had portrayed.This caused a societal war in America. Many Americans were outraged with the government’s false information about the war. From this, anti-war propaganda grew. Without the work of the brave reporters who risked their lives to communicate the truth to the American public, we would have no way to accurately see the horrors of Vietnam, and the bloodshed it created.

Analysis

In retrospect, America saw a full transformation in the way wars were reported. During World War II, government propaganda showed heroic soldiers and brave citizens joining in on the war effort, as a matter of National pride, avoiding the realities of the bloodshed and astronomical loss of life. The 1960's brought the era of counterculture and anti-authoritarianism. In trying to portray both sides, reporters no longer glorified war, affirming and communicating back to protesting Americans the true cost of war. Citizens watched repeated images on television of soldiers in body-bags,civilians being shot, and children covered in napalm. This revolutionary form of wartime journalism led to years of the most gritty and real images of war, the public has ever seen. It also made it incredibly difficult for the government to cover up the true state of any wars they were fighting.

Newspaper featuring first reactions to and frontline photos from the Mai Lai Massacre.

Photo Credit- The Plain Dealer

Impact and Analysis

Impact

Analysis