Media In The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was the first televised war. This allowed news stations to bring the battles right to the television screen in someone’s home. The Vietnamese would use the American media to express their thoughts to the Americans. Americans were also able to see the brutal combat that was happening and get a first-hand experience of the war itself. American’s views were skewed by the way the reporters were sending the information to the public. Having the Vietnam war televised caused Americans to take a stronger stand on how they felt about the war and also affected how many Americans viewed the government as well as the war.
Many different group in Vietnam would use the American press to express their opinions to the American people. When Diem was in power, in South Vietnam, many of the Vietnamese, there, were oppressed. He attacked many different groups including the Buddhists. He would attack the Buddhists shrines and imprison them because he disagreed with their religion. This outraged many of the Vietnamese in the South. These oppressed Vietnamese noticed that the American press was in their country and knew the American government backed Diem’s reign. They decided to us the press to their advantage to show the American

Every report that was given showed how the U.S. was winning the war and weakening the Vietnamese forces. This all changed when the Tet Offensive occurred. This attack allowed for people to truly see what was happening in the war. The North Vietnamese attacked South Vietnam and they actually captured the U.S. embassy in the South. This showed Americans that the North Vietnamese were as strong as ever, even though they lost the battle, and it caused Americans to question their government. As the war was continuing people were also witnessing the brutal things, the Americans and the South Vietnamese did to the North Vietnamese without the context of the