Did television show the world the Vietnam war?

Answer 1

The technology of satellite use became available to news reporters during that time, and the news media had nearly unlimited access to the combat action. As a result, the Vietnam War was the first conflict in which the horrors of war were seen in American homes hours after happening. Because of the often graphic reports on televisions, the U.S. understanding of the conflict in Vietnam began to turn negatively.

Answer 2

Yes it did. In fact, many media historians refer to Vietnam as the first televised war. Every night at dinner time, the network news would come on, and viewers could see for themselves what was happening over there. With no official rules about how to cover a war, reporters were able to show both the positive aspects (courageous soldiers, military strategists explaining their plans) and the negative ones (the aftermath of battles that were lost, wounded soldiers).

Some of the images were disturbing, and viewers were very polarized by the coverage. Those who opposed the war felt it reinforced their belief that we should not be in Vietnam. Those who supported it felt the media were giving comfort to the enemy by focusing too much on the negatives.

In addition to televising from Vietnam itself, the networks and local stations also showed images of people who were against the war, and their protest marches; they also showed people who supported the war, and interviewed generals and members of the Johnson administration.

Back in the 1960s, there were no partisan commentators on TV, so most of the time, the reporters and anchors just read the news and tried to be neutral about it. But in 1968, there was one famous TV editorial, from a very unlikely source: Walter Cronkite. Cronkite was a veteran anchor and reporter; he was so well-respected that he was often referred to as "the most trusted man in America." At first, he supported the war; but the more he saw, the more he felt that the government was not being honest. He believed that, contrary to what the president was saying, America was not winning. And as casualties mounted and battles got more brutal, Cronkite delivered a long editorial saying that it was now his belief that Vietnam was a war that America could not win. He suggested it was time to declare victory and bring the troops home. Such a commentary was very unusual at that time, and few other TV journalists expressed their opinions about the war.

It should be noted that television had not gotten into most people's homes till the early-to-mid-1950s, so the coverage of a war in real time was very new for most Americans. TV reporters from other countries (including journalists from the BBC in England) also covered the war, but the conflict in Vietnam was very much identified with the United States, so most of the focus even from international reporters was on how the fighting was going and whether the Americans were successful in their battles with the Viet Cong.

Answer 3

Nearly every evening.