GOOD MORNING VIETNAM
Perkins, Jacob
Background
The Vietnam War lasted eleven years being the longest and also most costliest war of the twentieth century. Causing over 58,000 American deaths, and 3 million Vietnamese deaths. The war revolved around Communism, American involvement was strictly under the fear of the so called "domino theory", the theory that the act of communism in one country will cause the same act in neighboring countries. United States government wanted to prevent the reunification of communist rule in North Vietnam, and protect South Vietnam from communist rule. In the end the United States failed to achieve its objective, and had to withdraw troops in August of 1973, giving North Vietnam the advantage to unify the country.
Media and Perspective
Media played a major role during the Vietnam war. They provided most, if not all, information to the public about the war, covering some of the most controversial and climatic events. The media was open to report the war as they saw it, without censorship. This not only allowed the media to use gruesome images, but also allowed them to give their perspective. For the first time in history, the public was able to see war for the way it truly is.
Media Against War
Many media sources held a critical attitude against the war. Those sources were against U.S. Involvement in Vietnam. The media has the mighty power to use gruesome images to make the public believe what they want. One famous example from the war was picture of a Vietnamese soldier shooting a civilian in the head on the street. The public believed that this boosted moral for the enemy.
Historical
The criticism that best suits this event is historical. Everything that came about with the Vietnam war had been based off of events from the past.
Loosing but Winning
A biases for the Vietnam war came from the people who believed what we were doing in Vietnam was the right thing. Those media sources made the public believe that the U.S. was winning the war even known we where loosing.
Vietnam War Project