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History 14 - Professor Barbara M. Kelly As I thought about my question, What role does the media play, in war? ; I wondered how the best way to present this topic. One book that I read to help get a feel of the meaning of the Vietnam conflict was The Green Berets, by Robin Moore. The more and more I read this book, I started to analyze it in a different perspective. This book in fact had everything to do with my proposed question and I will show you why. I also intend to contrast the styles used in both the Vietnam conflict and the Gulf War.
In order for me to best depict what The Green Berets means, we must first learn how this book came to be. But even before that I must begin by letting those who do not know, what / who the Green Berets are. The are an elite fighting group under the Department of the Army. There purpose is to conduct covert operations all over the world. Some operations are teaching other friendly nations how to effectively use tactics of war and how to implement them. They are a unit, one that is highly trained in guerrilla-warfare tactics in the jungles of Southeast Asia (Moore.
p. 5). And because of their superlative training they are allowed to show this by wearing a Green Beret as ordered by former President of The United States, John F. Kennedy. President Kennedy was very instrumental in the inception of the Special Forces, throughout our armed forces. The Green Berets paid back this appreciation by naming the school after him, it is known as the John F.
Kennedy Special Warfare Center, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Now getting back, this book in itself is unprecedented way of how one form of the media was used during the conflict. John Moore wanted to write a book about this unit. The department of the army agreed to it but, as a condition he had to receive similar training to that of the unit, to better understand the unit.
Moore agreed, three weeks later he was in Airborne Jump School, Fort Benning, Georgia. He was the first civilian to earn SILVER WINGS. Once he completed this, he was sent to the John F. Kennedy Warfare Center where he would spend the next three months learning just what it takes to be a Green Beret. I perceive this to be one crucial part in answering my question.
In order for Moore to get a story he had to receive training. He would later be attached (military term used to described an outside constituent, working with the unit), and be considered as a member of the unit. Working side by side with the other soldiers in the unit at the same time gathering information for his book. By todays standard, I would think that the military would not allow this to happen.
One, for fear that the reporter would cite his / her first amendment right for free speech in being able to write exactly what he / she had seen. In contrasting both views a very important fact must be retained. During the days of the Vietnam conflict news reporters and journalists were considered old school (is how I like to put it). There was more of a sense of appropriateness when it came to reporting.
The media respected the fact that news concerning military actions had to be cleared by the proper channels in order for its release. Another important fact during this time period, we saw more journalists actually in the field than any major war to date. The Vietnam conflict was considered a sit-down war; because of the fact that you would come home and watch propagandas highlights on the evening news while you ate dinner with your family. I used the term propagandas highlights as a term that to me, is used fittingly.
We were greeted by how many V. C. we killed today, smiles of our boys, millions of miles away from home, not realizing what was truly happening. We had some idea, and this was due to the journalists efforts. One particular incident which changed the way the press covers the political ongoing's of the government can be traced back to a precedent in journalism. Woodward and Bernstein's remarkable stories that uncovered the plot of stealing files from the Democratic Party Headquarters in the Watergate Hotel, in Washington D.
C. ; is what change the way reporters now handle certain stories. This allowed the line to be moved a little in favor of the press and the media. Another factor was the pure fact that many officers during the Vietnam conflict wanted the public to know what was going on. They wanted The American public to see the difficulties and daily frustrations of combat against an enemy of uncertain origins in obscure locations (Denton p. 8). I feel this was meant to say that if the American public knew what was going on, the true side of this war they would be more sympathetic to the cause. Now lets get down to the way the media covered the Gulf war, both operations, Dessert Shield and Dessert Storm.
I intend to focus on the medium of television, and show the differences between them. Starting with the two front-runners, that received much appraisal for their coverage. CNN (Cable News Network), due to its 24 hour news format became the most up to date source of what was going on. Because of this 24 hour format, CNN is not a conventional news service. Cnn's status as an international news service, with live reports and journalists behind enemy lines raised questions about its uniqueness (Denton p. 108). This statement can be taken in two ways as I see it.
On one hand it shows its commitment into getting the facts out in a hurry. Could it be for the purpose of t. v. ratings or the fact that CNN is truly committed letting the American people and the world, know what was actually happening? Or the statement could mean that CNN has no regard for the conserve...
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Research essay sample on John F Kennedy Vietnam Conflict
