Waubonsee Community College

Reporting Vietnam, media and military at war, William M. Hammond

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

mapsillustrations

index present

non fiction

Reporting Vietnam

bibliography

39074039

William M. Hammond

Modern war studies

media and military at war

For many Americans during the Vietnam era, the war on the home front seemed nearly as wrenching and hardfought as the one in Southeast Asia. Its primary battlefield was the news media, its primary casualty the truth. But as William Hammond reveals, animosity between government and media wasn't always the rule; what happened between the two during the Vietnam War was symptomatic of the nation's experiences in general. As the "light at the end of the tunnel" dimmed, relations between them grew ever darker. Reporting Vietnam is an abridgement and updating of Hammond's two-volume work issued by the Government Printing Office. It tells how government and media first shared a common vision of American involvement in Vietnam. It then reveals how, as the war dragged on, upbeat government press releases were consistently challenged by journalists' reports from the field and finally how, as public sentiment shifted against the war, Presidents Johnson and Nixon each tried to manage the news media, sparking a heated exchange of recriminations. Hammond challenges the assertions of many military leaders that the media lost the war by swaying public opinion. He takes readers through the twists and turns of official public affairs policy as it tries to respond to a worsening domestic political environment and recurring adverse "media episodes." Along the way, he makes observations about the penchant of American officials for placing appearance ahead of substance and about policy making in general. --From publisher's description

1. Taking Sides -- 2. Maximum Candor -- 3. Keeping the Options Open -- 4. The Ground War -- 5. Keeping a Low Profile -- 6. The South Vietnamese Dimension -- 7. Claims of Progress -- and Counterclaims -- 8. The Tet Offensive -- 9. "War in a Goldfish Bowl" -- 10. "I Will Not Warn Again" -- 11. Keeping Control -- 12. Questioning Begins -- 13. My Lai and Other Atrocities -- 14. Incursion into Cambodia -- 15. A Change of Direction -- 16. Incursion into Laos -- 17. Saving Face -- 18. The Easter Offensive -- 19. Endgame