ABSTRACT
The role of the media (press and television) during the Vietnam War is a highly controversial subject. Assessments about its impact on American society vary enormously and have aroused about as much controversy as the war itself. Of significance to this conference is the fact that the controversy over the role of the media in a time of limited conflict has not just been confined to partisan political circles or the halls of academe but to the pages of military journals as references in the attached bibliography indicate. Quite obviously, the American military has drawn some lessons from Vietnam and has applied them to later conflicts, such as Grenada and Panama. The ‘lessons of Vietnam’, in so far as they relate to the relationship between the media, government and the military in a time of armed conflict, have also been the subject of study in Great Britain. 1 This presentation will offer an assessment of the impact of the media on the Vietnam War during the years 1962 to 1973 based primarily on the secondary literature.
