How effective was the media in turning US attitudes against the war? Very Effective
Overstated
Impact of Tet – “If I have lost Cronkite, I have lost Mr Avergae Citizen” (Walter Cronkite)
American attitudes were turning against the war by 1967 anyway. The media reflected this changing view rather than led it.
Impact of Tet “The war on colour TV screens in American living rooms has made the Americans far more anti-war than anything else”
In a sample of 800 broadcasts, only 16% of criticisms of government policy came from journalists.
Robin Day
Impact of Tet - 'Henceforth, no matter how effective our action, the prevalent strategy could no longer achieve its objectives within a period or within force levels politically acceptable to the American people.' (Henry Kissinger)
Growing casualties and war weariness were the reasons why the support for the war dropped not the media.
Impact of Tet 'Dead bodies lay amid the rubble and rattle of automatic gunfire as dazed American soldiers and civilians ran back and forth, trying to flush out the assailants. Americans at home saw the carnage wrought by the offensive.'
Research shows that between 1965 and 1970 only 76 TV reports out of 2,300 showed heavy fighting.
(Stanley Karnow – How to lose a War, 1980)
Harrison Salisbury – “Credibility Gap” – First journalist (New York Times, December 1966) to report on civilian casualties and a gap between what was reported, and what was fact
Seymour Hersch – Broke the My Lai Story – In the year of Tet, the press stayed away. In the aftermath of Tet, LIFE magazine broke the story (1970)
Shocking scenes of violence were rarely shown on US TV. Less than 25% of reports showed dead or wounded.