The misconceptions and false interpretations the press portrayed through television, news papers, and photographs played a major roll in shaping the support the US military had from its own people. Many contributors, such as Walter Cronkite and Edward Adams, of the press damaged the support of the US people due to bias, negative, and misconstrued interpretations of the Tet Offensive. The media portrayed Tet as a North Vietnamese victory, which countered Westmorland’s portrayal of Tet and made US citizens doubt Johnson’s previous statements made regarding the war in campaigns before Tet. The media affected the American public’s opinion of the war in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive to a great
It made people begin to lose hope in our ability to win the war, and led to increased questioning of the President’s tactics for the war. When the Pentagon announced the number of U.S. casualties sat that point in the war, President Johnson knew his popularity was lost and decided not to run for
The anti-war movements and protests reflected on the soldiers in Vietnam and led to the defeat of the US armed forces. The media portrayed war in such a negative manner that resentment is still present today. The introduction of televised news coverage of the Vietnam War set a precedent of fear of war within the American culture. The vivid footage and images of combat educated the American people of the true horrors
In a CBS special, Cronkite concluded, "To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past, to say we are mired in a bloody stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory conclusion" ( Hallin, 1986, p.170) This did not help increase the support for our troops in Vietnam. The overall support for the war was diminished by Cronkite's report. The negative coverage of the war influenced politicians, the public, and the American soldier. Concerned with losing support, politicians started to really get involved. The TeT offensive was a last ditch effort for the communists.
The devastating tragedy of 9/11 left all of America mourning. The horrific event opened the eyes of Americans, the fact that America was not invincible shocked many. The realization that the country was not undefeatable led to drastic changes. Post 9/11 security was increased, racial profiling became common, and foreigners were misjudged. The threat of terrorist attacks changed American culture immensely; the devastation wakened the need for protection and a sense of security.
Aiming to win back support from the American’s, as many people did not support the Vietnam war due to the bad media that was publicised. This was the first War to be so publicised and it shocked many of the people back home. This lead to Anti-War protest, which became one of the US governments aims to stop. However they still stuck to the aim to try and contain Vietnam from the spread of communism and supporting the SV defeat the VC in nearby country Cambodia. On the other side the aims of the NV government and their terrorist organisation the VC did not alter as they still aimed to persuade the SV government to vote for Vietnam to become a communist country.
It is used to manipulate information to influence public opinion, through emotional appeals and demise of the enemy, to create hatred between countries. It promoted patriotism and nationalism within a country. Britain did not have a policy of national service; this was standard in countries such as France and Germany. The whole point of propaganda was to get more and more people to sign up for the war, this was important because of all the casualties and the hardship suffered on the home front. The government did this by displaying posters stating ‘your country
It has hurt our credibility across the world and caused a loss of faith in government by its citizens. Although the necessity of the war is argued by many, it is only done in an analysis of its occurrence. Had it not happened and the world possibly fell under Communism, then we would be arguing the exact opposite. The United States did what it felt it had to do at the time, given the information it had. To go to war in Vietnam was a risk the US felt it had to take in order to contain Communism, thus securing its economic prosperity and worldwide dominance.
The Vietnam War Heather Cameron Axia College of the University of Phoenix The Vietnam War Every good American, before the war in Vietnam, held their political leaders and Congressmen in high regard. It was during the 1960's that this viewpoint began to change as the American death toll began to rise. One major viewpoint, eerily similar to today, was that though the intentions of entering into the conflict were good, the fact that it seemed to be a losing battle and the costs seemed to be too high; it was time to pull out of Vietnam. The other side of that coin was that there was a purpose for going into Vietnam and we should not leave until the job was done (Schulzinger, 1999). It had not been since the early 1940's that the
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. Propaganda is usually repeated and dispersed over a wide variety of media in order to create the desired result in audience attitudes. Propaganda appeared during the Civil War as mostly images spread throughout newspapers and magazines. One of the main reasons behind this was because illustrated journalism became available for the first time to most Americans. Journalist covering the war would portray the war the way the they or the government felt was acceptable for Americans to see.