Vietnam War and Media Essay - 3088 Words

Media Transformations: Can media help win – or lose – a war? Answer through detailed discussion of coverage in one war since 1945. Introduction: The Vietnam War could be characterized as one of the most controversial incident in America’s history. United States acted paradoxically; they claimed that they protected democracy, they raised an oppressive dictatorial regime in the area of South Vietnam and later the US army was destroying villages in order to protect them (Wiest, 2002). In terms of media, the Vietnam War was the first war, which was extensively televised. Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian communication theorist said: â€Å"Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living†¦show more content†¦3657600221615 During summer of 1954 France and Vietnam signed the Geneva Peace Accord, which declared the temporary division of Vietnam in two parts: the North Vietnam (under the authority of Ho Chi Minh and communist forces) and the South Vietnam (under the authority of Diem) to the 17th parallel. The new treaty stipulated that the country would hold nati onal elections in order to be reunified the country in 1956. The Secretary of US John Foster Dulles did not support the Geneva Peace Accord, but however he agreed to respect it. He did not want to recognize officially the Chinese Government, and effectively grant power to the communist part. Diem’s regime had turned to be oppressive, corrupted and unpopular, however the US government continued to prop it up, fearing the increase of resistance efforts by the communists in South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh who was supported by Viet Cong organized the movement against Diem’s regime (SparkNotes Editor, 2005). Lyndon B. Johnson, the American President that succeeded J.F. Kennedy had the following political plan. He planed to maintain the least possible US involvement to the Vietnam War. However, when the Communist Powers attacked the American Navy Ships (situated at the Gulf of Tonkin), he decided to send military forces back to Vietnam. In fact, he sent an overall of 400,000 Amer ican troops in Vietnam by 1966 (Wiest, 2002). In 1968 the North Vietnamese military forces in co-operationShow MoreRelatedThe Media and the Military in the Vietnam War1593 Words   |  6 PagesThe media and Military The War in Vietnam was the first real â€Å"television† war, meaning it was the first conflict where the U.S. military found itself attempting to control a media which was not fully supportive of the country’s involvement. 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