Throughout the entire history, humanity has conceived wars that have taken the lives of many people. In the contemporary world, the idea of global conflicts is not attractive compared to ancient warriors desire to battle. There exist substantial grounds which show the unpopularity of any potential warfare. This essay will examine the reasons media coverage and the antiwar movement made the Vietnam War unpopular and argue the opposite opinion.
Usually, heads of nations tend to influence people in any method possible, obtain public support, and convince individuals to accept certain beliefs. With the use of media technologies to disseminate information, it became possible to affect the masses and make the war unattractive and unpopular. Spector states that “American disillusionment with the war was a product of many causes of which the media was the one”. Films from Vietnam were edited in Tokyo and showed to the United States (Spector). The deep insight into the war’s consequences resulted in the Antiwar Movement when the global conflict’s unpopularity became significantly high (Vaughan). Evidence proves the substantial influence media coverage had on individuals.
On the other hand, some individuals may doubt the reliability of the use of media resources. Vaughan states that “Contrary to popular belief, television news coverage of the Vietnam War did not directly affect public support for the war, nor did it profoundly impact American nationalism” (2). Despite the absence of direct effect, Vaughan claims that “television news influence how events of the war were perceived and remembered by the American public” (2). The mentioned evidence proves the actual indirect effect of the news on people’s opinion about the war.
Global conflicts are generally accepted as adverse events that result in millions of victims. The media coverage played an essential role during the Vietnam War, revealing the consequences of battles. Although the media coverage’s influence is not direct, it affects the perception of the war. It is difficult to argue that television news was a significant reason the war became unpopular, and people created the Antiwar Movement to stop and prevent it in the future.
References
Spector, Ronald H. “The Vietnam War and the Media”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016. Web.
Vaughan, Brock J. “War, Media, and Memory: American Television News Coverage of the Vietnam War.” Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections 4, vol. 4, no. 1, 2020, pp. 1-10.