Friday, December 10, 2010
Quote
"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. " ------Marshall McLuhan, 1975
Blunt reality of war in Vietnam
It was perhaps the most controversial cover for LIFE magazine, which usually steered clear of controversy. Paul Schutzers captured this image of a VietCong prisoner gagged and bound, being taken prisoner by American forces during the Vietnam War. Photography and news coverage like this helped to turn the American public against the Vietnam war.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
My reason for choosing this topic.
My reason for choosing this topic is because being from Southeast Asia, the effects of the Vietnam war is still felt in present day in the ASEAN reigion. And from reading this chapter in Mightier than a Sword, I gained a much deeper insight into the history,politics and most importantly importance of television that played into the war. This chapter highlights how television is the most powerful medium in history. That is truly undeniable, even though pictures in print are worth a thousand words, images that are communicated through television are vivid in color and motions and conveys more than a thousand words to its viewers. The television had the tremendous power to reach into every corner of American society to send them the true message of the war. Without censorship. It communicated words through it's footages that could not otherwise be conveyed via words in print. Americans depended on the television as their major news source when the reality of the battlefield was brought to them to their living rooms through the television. When people saw blood on their screens in all its glory, they were exposed to the reality and brutalities of war. Over the few years, television journalists Greg Harris and Jack Perkins from NBC narrated the war to their viewers with vivid and emotional descriptions completed with bloody scenes, no one could turn their eyes away from their television sets. However, Americans soon realized the truth about the Vietnam war and started changing their opinions and withdrawing the support for the war from the Tet offenses, the Zippo cigarette lighter which torched an entire Vietnamese village and a Southern Vietnamese, a U.S. ally who shot a prisoner in cold blood without trail. All of these images were brought to American's viewers and stunned the entire Nation and not to mention, the entire world. Walter Cronkite, a legendary journalist, was determined to uncover the truth about what really was going on and flew across the world. His statement to America through television was that no one really was winning the war, the power of his words and status as a legendary journalist carried such tremendous weight that Johnson had to step down. With the coverage of protests and protesters dying due to finding out about Nixon sending in more troops, this was conveyed through the media to the public and sent a message about morals. This shows us how extremely powerful the news media is, that it can literally shape and determine history. Through what they say, Americans chose not to continue with the war. Without the help of the news media and television, the war would probably have continued longer than it did with never ending problems and limited solutions. Journalists are some of the most powerful people in this world and without them reporting the realities of the war, things might have turned out very different with extremely negative consequences. Much worse than the present day effects of the Vietnam War. Exposing the reality of the war, bloodbath and all to the everyday American shows the democratic system of America, as this is something that is not allowed in a media that is controlled by it's government. Through the voice of credible news journalists and the media, the story of the powerful, the powerless, the victims and the deception of politics and politicians to the American society about the war was narrated to Americans in the most graphic and vivid details imaginable.
Outline
Chapter 12: Vietnam War. Bringing the battle field into the American living room.
This is the outline which highlights the beginning of the Vietnam War to the time when Television evolved as a powerful major news medium and how it exposed the brutal bloody immoral horrors of the war and how it was simply not possible for the United States to win the Vietnam war to the American public through their television sets in the comforts of the home. American Viewers went from supporting the war to being completely against it through the images they were showed from the television. In other words, television news helped end the war.
1. American's longest war:
Early 1950s President Truman initiated the U.S. involvement with Vietnam and sends military troops.
1954 Vietnam was divided into two main territories. The North being controlled by the Communists and the South was pro democracy.
1964 Vietnam being a part of Americans lives.
Congress assured that all U.S. forces in Southeast Asia would be supported.
1965 Johnson sends massive troops to Vietnam.
1967 The number of U.S. troops exceeds 500,000 due to the U.S. being unfamiliar with the warfare practised by their enemy.
2. The most powerful medium in History. The Television.
Mid 1960s, most people started receiving their news from television instead of newspapers.
1972, 2/3s of Americans named the television as their source for major news.
Through 1967, television coverage of the war was favorable to the U.S. policy.
3. Exposing the horrors of the War.
1967 NBC Greg Harris reports from Vietnam in the presence of the troops about the reality of the horrors going on in Vietnam.
4. A Zippo lighter creates a storm.
In 1965, Safer films troops torching a Vietnamese village killing many innocent Vietnamese peasants.
Fred Friendly runs footage through CBS to the anger of President Johnson of many americans.
5. Tet stuns a Nation.
1968, North Vietnamese starts the Tet by sending the Viet Cong suicide squad to the U.S. Embassy in Saigon killing five American soldiers. This was a psychological win for the Viet Cong shocking the American public damaging the American's trust in the Johnson's administartion.
6.The Shot felt around the world:
Howard Tucker captures film of prisoner being shot in cold blood by a Southern Vietnamese officer,someone who was on the side of the United States. This footage left Americans disillusioned and they realized the truth about the war. Americans attitudes towards the war were starting to change.
7.Exposing the war as unwinnable
Walter Cronkite sets on a mission to Vietnam to uncover the truth. He concludes through the screens of millions of Americans from Vietnam that they were not winning the war. His words had a huge impact. President Johnson announced that he would not be running for reelections a month later and that the United states participation in the war would be greatly decreased.
8. Antiwar Protesters.
By mid 1968, the tet offensive and Walter Cronkite statement made journalists suspicious of government policies and more forgiving towards dissidents.
1970, war protesters became much more aggressive to the point of people losing their lives when they found out that Nixon sent more troops to other parts of Southeast Asia.
This is the outline which highlights the beginning of the Vietnam War to the time when Television evolved as a powerful major news medium and how it exposed the brutal bloody immoral horrors of the war and how it was simply not possible for the United States to win the Vietnam war to the American public through their television sets in the comforts of the home. American Viewers went from supporting the war to being completely against it through the images they were showed from the television. In other words, television news helped end the war.
1. American's longest war:
Early 1950s President Truman initiated the U.S. involvement with Vietnam and sends military troops.
1954 Vietnam was divided into two main territories. The North being controlled by the Communists and the South was pro democracy.
1964 Vietnam being a part of Americans lives.
Congress assured that all U.S. forces in Southeast Asia would be supported.
1965 Johnson sends massive troops to Vietnam.
1967 The number of U.S. troops exceeds 500,000 due to the U.S. being unfamiliar with the warfare practised by their enemy.
2. The most powerful medium in History. The Television.
Mid 1960s, most people started receiving their news from television instead of newspapers.
1972, 2/3s of Americans named the television as their source for major news.
Through 1967, television coverage of the war was favorable to the U.S. policy.
3. Exposing the horrors of the War.
1967 NBC Greg Harris reports from Vietnam in the presence of the troops about the reality of the horrors going on in Vietnam.
4. A Zippo lighter creates a storm.
In 1965, Safer films troops torching a Vietnamese village killing many innocent Vietnamese peasants.
Fred Friendly runs footage through CBS to the anger of President Johnson of many americans.
5. Tet stuns a Nation.
1968, North Vietnamese starts the Tet by sending the Viet Cong suicide squad to the U.S. Embassy in Saigon killing five American soldiers. This was a psychological win for the Viet Cong shocking the American public damaging the American's trust in the Johnson's administartion.
6.The Shot felt around the world:
Howard Tucker captures film of prisoner being shot in cold blood by a Southern Vietnamese officer,someone who was on the side of the United States. This footage left Americans disillusioned and they realized the truth about the war. Americans attitudes towards the war were starting to change.
7.Exposing the war as unwinnable
Walter Cronkite sets on a mission to Vietnam to uncover the truth. He concludes through the screens of millions of Americans from Vietnam that they were not winning the war. His words had a huge impact. President Johnson announced that he would not be running for reelections a month later and that the United states participation in the war would be greatly decreased.
8. Antiwar Protesters.
By mid 1968, the tet offensive and Walter Cronkite statement made journalists suspicious of government policies and more forgiving towards dissidents.
1970, war protesters became much more aggressive to the point of people losing their lives when they found out that Nixon sent more troops to other parts of Southeast Asia.
Tet
The attack upon the US embassy in Saigon during the Tet Offensive was one event that left an indelible impression upon the minds of the American public (File photo)
Zippo cigarette lighter creates a firestorm
CBS News correspondent Morley Safer, left, filing an official report from Cam Ne, Vietnam, 1965.
President Lyndon B. Johnson
President Lyndon B. Johnson in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam: Handshakes in a crowd of troops. (December 23, 1967)
The late Walter Cronkite, the gold standard for Journalists.
Walter Cronkite at Hue following the Tet Offensive, Vietnam, 1968.
Summary: Vietnam War. Bringing the battlefield into Americans living room.
This chapter unlike many other previous chapters in Mightier than the sword focuses on how the television news played a main task in changing the public opinions about the Vietnam war and turned the public against the war. Despite the differing opinions of politicians and the media about ending the war, no one could deny that television showed images that were so raw, disturbing and tragic that it cut right into the souls of countless Americans. Something that could not be achieved by print images by any means. The violent brutal massacre were portrayed in such vividness that everything else including politics and strategy was sidelined and ignored by the public. Americans only had one thing on their minds, the Vietnam war was wrong. The Vietnam war was also America's longest war. In an attempt to prevent Vietnam into following the footsteps of communist China, President and the others who came after him in the white house began the war. In 1954, Vietnam was divided into two territories. The North was ruled by Ho Chi Minh's communist government and the South was revolved around Saigon, which was pro democracy. In 1965, President Johnson sent the first GIs into Vietnam which rapidly increased 175,000 by the end of the year. Despite having superior military equipment, the Americans soldiers were clueless about the different technique of warfare used by rebel Viet Cong also known as the guerrilla fighters. Familiar with their own territories, the guerrilla fighters were able to disappear into jungles and managed to avoid their enemy, the Americans. Johnson was not giving up anytime soon and by 1967, the U.S. troops increased to a startling number of 500,000. Eventually the United States paid a severely high price with the deaths of more than 58,000 American soldiers killed in the war.
As the Vietnam war continued over time, more Americans used the television as their news source. Even President Johnson developed an obsession with the television news during that time. Through 1967, television coverage of the Vietnam War was in favor to the U.S. policy. With NBC Greg Harris reporting the war in the favor of America and narrating the weakness of the Viet Cong. However after the Tet Offensive in 1968, all that would change and television took on a critical role of portraying the war.
Things took a rapid turn of change when American viewers were disturbed and disgusted at the inhuman and heartless behavior of American soldiers when they torched an entire Vietnamese village simply by pulling out a Zippo cigarette lighter. The Tet incident shocked the nation when a Viet Cong suicide squad attacked the U.S. Embassy in Saigon murdering five American GIs. It was a psychological win for the Viet Cong. This destroyed the trust people had in the Johnson's administration in the past. The television news such as CBS and NBC aggressively aired programs on the tet showing graphic and brutal bloodbath of GIs . This only confirmed that the United States was being defeated in the war despite what people in the office were saying.
Not long after, the American people watched in horror how one of the their "people",someone who was supposed to be fighting on their side, a Southern Vietnamese officer, point a gun at an untried prisoner and murdered him in cold blood. All through their television screens. One of the people who witnessed this horrific image through his television screen was CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite. A man of great influence and reputation. Cronkite was outraged and determined to uncover the truth about what was really going on in Vietnam. Were they winning the war or no? The entire country was confused and needed an answer. By the third week of the Tet offensive, Cronkite was in Southeast Asia.Eventually Cronkite declared through television screens that neither the Americans nor the Vietnamese were winning the war. He ended his statement with the conclusion that America was losing a war for the first time in 20 years and that continuing it was pointless and that they should negotiate peace with Vietnam and exit the country.
His words carried a huge amount of weight and eventually Johnson declared that he would not run for reelection and that the U.S. involvement with the war would be greatly reduced. What was clear in these events was that after that coverage changed greatly and comments about the war ran greatly against the U.S. policy compared to the time when it ran for the policy before January 1968.
In November 1969, Seymour Hash revealed the Mai Lai massacre with American soldiers destroying a Vietnamese village murdering countless innocent people with Lieutenant William Calley being persecuted of murder,which was a grave blow to the U.S. military. And what followed after was the revelation of the Pengaton Papers by the Washington Post and The New York Times. It revealed to the public how the American military action was fueled mainly by political gain and nothing else.
These events left Americans disillusioned and demonstrations against the U.S. involvement in Vietnam increased rapidly. Taking advantage of television as an effective medium, the protesters played to their advantage with the cameras. The antiwar movement were translated into vivid images on television screens and CBS was even referred to as the Communist Broadcasting system. In the beginning, anti war protesters were treated with contempt and seen as traitors but by the mid 1968, Robert F. Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy intertwined the protests with their political stage. Images of protesters being beaten by police made journalists less harsh on these dissidents. By the fall of 1968, the Anti War Moratorium proposed their hope for peace which appealed to many American people especially conscience wise. The mindset and hearts of Americans had changed and the public was finally willing to voice their opposing thoughts regarding the war and unwillingness to continue it despite supporting it for way too long. The television coverage in Vietnam had played a crucial role in bringing the war to and end.
As the Vietnam war continued over time, more Americans used the television as their news source. Even President Johnson developed an obsession with the television news during that time. Through 1967, television coverage of the Vietnam War was in favor to the U.S. policy. With NBC Greg Harris reporting the war in the favor of America and narrating the weakness of the Viet Cong. However after the Tet Offensive in 1968, all that would change and television took on a critical role of portraying the war.
Things took a rapid turn of change when American viewers were disturbed and disgusted at the inhuman and heartless behavior of American soldiers when they torched an entire Vietnamese village simply by pulling out a Zippo cigarette lighter. The Tet incident shocked the nation when a Viet Cong suicide squad attacked the U.S. Embassy in Saigon murdering five American GIs. It was a psychological win for the Viet Cong. This destroyed the trust people had in the Johnson's administration in the past. The television news such as CBS and NBC aggressively aired programs on the tet showing graphic and brutal bloodbath of GIs . This only confirmed that the United States was being defeated in the war despite what people in the office were saying.
Not long after, the American people watched in horror how one of the their "people",someone who was supposed to be fighting on their side, a Southern Vietnamese officer, point a gun at an untried prisoner and murdered him in cold blood. All through their television screens. One of the people who witnessed this horrific image through his television screen was CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite. A man of great influence and reputation. Cronkite was outraged and determined to uncover the truth about what was really going on in Vietnam. Were they winning the war or no? The entire country was confused and needed an answer. By the third week of the Tet offensive, Cronkite was in Southeast Asia.Eventually Cronkite declared through television screens that neither the Americans nor the Vietnamese were winning the war. He ended his statement with the conclusion that America was losing a war for the first time in 20 years and that continuing it was pointless and that they should negotiate peace with Vietnam and exit the country.
His words carried a huge amount of weight and eventually Johnson declared that he would not run for reelection and that the U.S. involvement with the war would be greatly reduced. What was clear in these events was that after that coverage changed greatly and comments about the war ran greatly against the U.S. policy compared to the time when it ran for the policy before January 1968.
In November 1969, Seymour Hash revealed the Mai Lai massacre with American soldiers destroying a Vietnamese village murdering countless innocent people with Lieutenant William Calley being persecuted of murder,which was a grave blow to the U.S. military. And what followed after was the revelation of the Pengaton Papers by the Washington Post and The New York Times. It revealed to the public how the American military action was fueled mainly by political gain and nothing else.
These events left Americans disillusioned and demonstrations against the U.S. involvement in Vietnam increased rapidly. Taking advantage of television as an effective medium, the protesters played to their advantage with the cameras. The antiwar movement were translated into vivid images on television screens and CBS was even referred to as the Communist Broadcasting system. In the beginning, anti war protesters were treated with contempt and seen as traitors but by the mid 1968, Robert F. Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy intertwined the protests with their political stage. Images of protesters being beaten by police made journalists less harsh on these dissidents. By the fall of 1968, the Anti War Moratorium proposed their hope for peace which appealed to many American people especially conscience wise. The mindset and hearts of Americans had changed and the public was finally willing to voice their opposing thoughts regarding the war and unwillingness to continue it despite supporting it for way too long. The television coverage in Vietnam had played a crucial role in bringing the war to and end.
Chapter 12: Vietnam War. Bringing the battlefield into American living room.
An image of a Southern Vietnamese officer , who fought on the side of the United States , captured murdering a prisoner.
A brief introduction..:
The Vietnam War burns in the hearts and minds of many people until today. One of America's greatest defeats and longest wars. In Chapter twelve of Mightier Than The Sword, Streitmatter explains how Television allowed Americans to witness the war through their television sets and how it eventually helped to end the war.
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