How Media Coverage of the Vietnam War Changed America

The Vietnam War was fought between 1957 and 1975 on the ground in South Vietnam and bordering areas of Cambodia and Laos and in bombing runs over North Vietnam. The Vietnam War is often referred to as the most unpopular American war of the twentieth century. "It concluded with nearly 60,000 American deaths and an estimated 2 to 4 million Vietnamese deaths." Finding out the exact number of life's lost during the conflict is very difficult, the true death toll will probably never be known. During the War reporters and photographers went through a huge change, which changed the style of reporting the war for future journalists. They went  from reporting directly off of press releases and forming happy, optimistic stories to investigative reporting and writing cold, hard truthful stories. The reports coming from Vietnam and the images coming from the front lines did more than just sway public opinion. These images helped bring around the end of the war.

Vietnam: Bringing the Battlefieled into the American Living Room

In chapter twelve of Rodger Streitmatter's book Mightier than the Sword, the topic falls upon The Vietnam War. What Streitmatter focused on was not the war its self but what the affect of a televised war has on the fighting spirit of a country. The Vietnam War was the first American war to ever be televised, and according to some critic's, that was one of the major reason why it ended in shambles. Throughout the war countless news agencies sent correspondence to spectate and report back on events as they happend. These reports and interviews were then brodcast straight into every american home that had a TV. this ended up causing a great rifft between the people and the government.

A surprise revolution

In 1942, a popular song about a patriotic female defense worker called "Rosie the Riveter" provided the name that became synonymous with this new kind of feminist American woman.
Rosie the Riveter is a cultural icon of the United States, representing the six million women who entered the workforce for the first time during World War II, many of whom worked in the manufacturing plants that produced munitions and material. These women took the places of the male workers who were absent fighting in the Pacific and European theaters. The character is now considered a feminist icon in the US, and a herald of women's economic power to come. Rosie and her slogan "We Can Do It!" were featured on posters, magazines, and more. In the case of the New York Times though journalists "opted" not to just tell woman to go work into the factories but instead show them how working woman have been making a difference in the war effort and the economy.  The interesting thing was that African American women were some of those most affected by the mass push for women workers. It can be said that it was the fact that whites working along blacks during the time had encouraged a breaking down of social barriers and a healthy recognition of diversity. African-Americans working in the factories were able to lay the groundwork for the pre civil rights revolution by equating segregation with Nazi white supremacist ideology.

"Creating 'Rosy the Riveter"

In chapter nine of Rodger Streitmatter's book Mightier Than the Sword topic shifts to the effects that journalism of the time had on how the traditional American house wife of the 1940's went from  running the the house to running the assembly lines for the war effort. These woman and their hard work are the reason the America icon Rosy the Riveter came about. Rosy in short was a propaganda / national icon that was suppose to emulate the embodiment of the working woman of the second great war. She was born along with a slue of many other ploys directed towards woman of the time by the government, which were then inflamed by the coverage given by the press. The goal was to encourage them to do their part for the war effort. Because at the time the men that were usually working in the factories and mines were off at war, so the nation had to tap into an alternate sours of labor.


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The Great Escape

In 1873 Boss Tweed and many of his associates were arrested for forgery and
larceny. Tweed spent two years in jail. Upon his release he was immediately rearrested for multiple civil charges. During his second incarceration Tweed was aloud to daily visits at his son in laws house, with the condition of  being under constant surveillance. On Dec. 4, 1875, William “Boss” Tweed was having a family lunching at his son in laws home, all wile under the surveillance of  William C. Conner, during one of such visits, Tweed made his escape. Surprisingly there was no crazy distraction or elaborate plan, all he did was say he needed to step outside for some fresh air, where he had a horse drawn carriage waiting for him. While on the run Tweed hid under the name John Sector. After hiding in new york right under the polices nose and making it out of some close calls, Tweed made his way down to Florida. where he had arranged to meet his family. From there they fled to Spain, unfortunately when Tweed arrived in Spain the authority's recognized him from Nasts political cartoons. Tweed was subsequently sent back to prison, where he lived until his death in April 1878.

Thomas Nasst

The thing about boss tweed's ring was that thanks to journalism it was vastly skewed. This was mainly do to journalist Thomas Nasst. Nasst was known for his political cartoons on Tweed's ring. He and the New York Times, were the main reasons for the "corrupt politician" reputation given to Tweed and his constituents. The reason one might think that Tweed's crouped persona might be skewed in a negative light, is because of his actual actions. If you were to go and look up what Tweed and his constituents were really using their corruption of power for you'd see that even though they were using some of it for there own personal gain, but at the same time they were mainly trying to help the immigrants that settled in NYC. In particular the immigrants that were trying to further their own businesses.

Below are some images. One of Nast himself and two of his drawings depicting some Tweed and his constituency's escapades.

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Boss Tweed Ring

Hi I'm Chris. this my blog on the Boss Tweed Ring from 1869 and how the field of journalism shaped its out come. But first a quick tutorial of the Boss Tweed Ring. It all started in 1869 with William M. Tweed, as commissioner of public works, leading a ring that controlled the government in NYC. He and his associates robbed the taxpayers of many millions of dollars. An author of the time named Albert Bigelow Paine, had this to say about their scam; "their methods were curiously simple and primitive...". the main idea of the scam was to take control the ruling party of the state,  which at the time the Democratic Party, and then use that power to buy large amounts businesses. thus giving Tweed and his constituents even more power over the city.