Types of Media affecting American Reaction to Vietnam

The first type of media that impacted American Reaction to Vietnam heavily
involved photographs. Photography was still the main form of images in the media.
Television was starting to erupt, but photography was still a journalists way to
communicate clearly. Depending on what the photo was depicting, reaction from
Americans could be heavily swayed. This is clearly seen with the photos in my
PowerPoint presentation. The first depicted a child burned by a napalm attack, leading to
public outrage over the effect of the war on civilians. The second photo I presented
depicted the death of an American being air lifted out of Vietnam. This provoked anger
from the American public, and was a direct window into the American lives lost.
Photography only presented a flash of moments within the war, and the effects of some of
those moments drastically altered American reaction.
The second type of media described involves memorials. There are many Vietnam
memorials and they each send a message that depicts aspects of the war. The memorial I
presented is located in Washington D.C. It memorializes all the lives of the soldiers lost
and has statues meant to symbolize the different races that fought in the war and the
women who lost their lives as well.
Vietnam was the first television war. It brought the horror of war into every
living room and the media depicted videos on television that left the public in a state of
revulsion. Television is my third type of media and it heavily swayed public opinion.
Television put an emphasis on the cost of the war in the terms of human lives. This
helped speed up removing troops from Vietnam and swayed public opinion harshly
against the war.

Print also had a lot to do with American opinion during this time. Books
continued to sway the publics views on Vietnam, even after the war had ended. I
described The Sorrow Of War, by Bao Ninh. It is a novel told from the point of view of a
former North Vietnamese soldier. It provides an honest depiction of the changes in many
peoples lives because of the Vietnam War. His novel still affects opinions and views on
Vietnam today.
Documentaries are also a huge form of media that influenced public reaction to
the Vietnam War. The documentary, Vietnam: A Television History, is a 7-part story
depicting the affects of Vietnam in America. The primary focus is on the United States
and it efforts to push back communist aggression. The documentary presented a type of
understanding as why the War ended the way it did and the military campaigning that
occurred during that time. It also offers a perspective between those that opposed the war
verses those that supported it.
All of these media outlets not only depicted my topic, but also heavily played into
the outcome of the Vietnam War and influenced American Reaction a great deal.