Whose History? The Debate
The
Military View
Journalistic
Mythmaking
Political
Disagreements
Historians/evidence/interpretations
“Presentism”
Conventional Wisdoms
Heroic/unpatriotic
journalists
Uncontrolled,
senationalist media
Gruesome
TV Images
Overwhelming
effects on public opinion
War
lost because because of declining public support in
Prolonged civil war/Varying levels of
New communication technologies, practices
“Mass” but concentrated television audience: CBS, NBC,
ABC
Network nightly news
More portable filming equipment
Edited for local viewers (Not live)
Shifting government policies toward the press
1960-64: Few
correspondents, few restrictions, entrepreneurial reporting. Presidential
complaints
1965-forward:
A public relations war
No Formal Censorship
Unrestricted press access, travel
More spin than propaganda
Briefings, press junkets
Body counts:
Postwar research does not support conventional wisdoms, political
critics
Largely uncritical Press
(Hallin)
News coverage mostly followed official
briefings/sources/leaks. Limited footage of US casualties, attrocities
“Objective"
Coverage (Schudson)
Few
security violations (
Mistakes
were made (Braestrup, Small, Wyatt): Tet offensive,
exaggerations, military tactics
Limited,
not overwhelming impact on public opinion (Mueller)
Postwar consequences
“
Increased
censorship, control of press (
Distrust,
partisanship (Attacks on “liberal”/”official” press), cynicism, decline of
media credibility)
1983 commando raid: press banned
Led to military-press negotiations, Battle Lines: Report of the Twentieth
Century Fund Task Force on the Military and the Media (1985)
Key recommendations:
Public affairs planning should be part of operational
planning
Press pools should be mimimized – but as large as
necessary when created
Media should voluntary comply with security guidelines
or groundrules issued by the military. Rules should be as few as possible.
Public affairs planning should include equipment and
personnel to assist correspondents to cover war adequqately.
Problems in application:
Gulf War: New Rules
Back to the future (World War II)
Battielfield access limited to censored press pools
Primary information source: Hotel briefings in