The Uncensored War: The Media and the VietnamVietnam was America's most divisive and unsuccessful foreign war. It was also the first to be televised and the first of the modern era fought without military censorship. From the earliest days of the Kennedy-Johnson escalation right up to the American withdrawal, and even today, the media's role in Vietnam has continued to be intensely controversial. The "Uncensored War" gives a richly detailed account of what Americans read and watched about Vietnam. Hallin draws on the complete body of the New York Times coverage from 1961 to 1965, a sample of hundreds of television reports from 1965-73, including television coverage filmed by the Defense Department in the early years of the war, and interviews with many of the journalists who reported it, to give a powerful critique of the conventional wisdom, both conservative and liberal, about the media and Vietnam. Far from being a consistent adversary of government policy in Vietnam, Hallin shows, the media were closely tied to official perspectives throughout the war, though divisions in the government itself and contradictions in its public relations policies caused every administration, at certain times, to lose its ability to "manage" the news effectively. As for television, it neither showed the "literal horror of war," nor did it play a leading role in the collapse of support: it presented a highly idealized picture of the war in the early years, and shifted toward a more critical view only after public unhappiness and elite divisions over the war were well advanced. The "Uncensored War" is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of the Vietnam war or the role of the media in contemporary American politics. A groundbreaking study of the media's influence on the Vietnam War ·Overturns the conventional notions about the media's role in the war ·Draws directly on a huge body of newspaper and TV coverage |
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Page vii
The Media and the Vietnam Daniel C. Hallin. Preface This book was finished in the tenth year after the end of the Vietnam War . The year 1985 was also the year of Rambo , and of a number of other celebrations of the Vietnam War in ...
The Media and the Vietnam Daniel C. Hallin. Preface This book was finished in the tenth year after the end of the Vietnam War . The year 1985 was also the year of Rambo , and of a number of other celebrations of the Vietnam War in ...
Page 3
... war about precisely this issue . In the words of Richard Nixon , • + The Vietnam War was complicated by factors that had never before oc- cured in America's conduct of a war . [ T ] he American news media had come to dominate domestic ...
... war about precisely this issue . In the words of Richard Nixon , • + The Vietnam War was complicated by factors that had never before oc- cured in America's conduct of a war . [ T ] he American news media had come to dominate domestic ...
Page 4
... Vietnam . Vietnam coincided with a number of other dra- matic political events in which the role of the media was clearly central . First was the civil rights movement , played out largely on a media stage , then the urban conflicts of ...
... Vietnam . Vietnam coincided with a number of other dra- matic political events in which the role of the media was clearly central . First was the civil rights movement , played out largely on a media stage , then the urban conflicts of ...
Page 6
... Vietnam seems the perfect illustration of the separation between media and state in modern American politics . There ... war . In 1965 , as American troops were committed to what was in effect the first televised war ( there had been TV ...
... Vietnam seems the perfect illustration of the separation between media and state in modern American politics . There ... war . In 1965 , as American troops were committed to what was in effect the first televised war ( there had been TV ...
Page 7
... war much more as a political issue , subject to the standards of " objective reporting , " than previous American wars . Every administration of the Vietnam era had periodic crises in its ability to " manage " this more independent or ...
... war much more as a political issue , subject to the standards of " objective reporting , " than previous American wars . Every administration of the Vietnam era had periodic crises in its ability to " manage " this more independent or ...
Contents
| 3 | |
| 13 | |
The War on Television 19651973 | 103 |
NOTES | 217 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 243 |
Abbreviations | 253 |
Code Book with Marginals for Some Variables | 255 |
INDEX | 275 |
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Common terms and phrases
action administration administration's aggression American political American troops antiwar movement attacks battle began bombing broadcast Buddhist crisis civilian casualties coded Cold War combat Communist conflict consensus critical Cronkite David Halberstam debate decision Diem editorial enemy escalation example fact February fighting film reports forces Gulf of Tonkin Hanoi Homer Bigart ideology involvement issue Johnson journalists Kennedy Legitimate Controversy limited major Max Frankel McNamara military mission Nixon North Vietnamese objective journalism officials Pentagon Papers period President president's public opinion reference Reston role Saigon scored soldiers sources South Vietnam South Vietnamese government Southeast Asia Sphere of Legitimate statements story strategy tactics television coverage television's Tet offensive Tight shots Times's U.S. policy U.S. troops United Variable Viet Vietcong Vietnam policy Vietnam War Vietnamese and NLF Walter Cronkite Washington Week in Review White House World York
Popular passages
Page 241 - But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.
Page 13 - Every newspaper now asks itself, with respect to every story: "Is it news?" All I suggest is that you add the question: "Is it in the interest of the national security?
Page 213 - The behavior of the media ... is intimately related to the unity and clarity of the government itself, as well as to the degree of consensus in the society at large.
Page 219 - John Gaventa, Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1980).
Page 60 - We learned from Hitler at Munich that success only feeds the appetite of aggression. The battle would be renewed in one country and then another: bringing with it, perhaps, even larger and crueler conflict.
Page 13 - If the press is awaiting a declaration of war before it imposes the self-discipline of combat conditions, then I can only say that no war ever posed a greater threat to our security. If you arc awaiting a finding of "clear and present danger...
Page 19 - As President and Commander in Chief, it is my duty to the American people to report that renewed hostile actions against United States ships on the high seas in the Gulf of Tonkin have today required me to order the military forces of the United States to take action in reply.
References to this book
Radical Media: Rebellious Communication and Social Movements John D. H. Downing,John Downing No preview available - 2001 |
The Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics Cathy J. Cohen No preview available - 1999 |