“During particularly gripping testimony, one of the few mainstream camera crews present turned of its lights and packed up; the crew’s exit sparked boos and jeers from the vets. That was the moment I became a media critic.” (Myths, J. Cohen) Jeff Cohen’s words seem to echo his opinion of the mainstream media here in the United States. In his article Cohen’s views seem to swing him towards seeing the media as a bum going to work, if their not already late then their probably checking out early. While he could most likely find any number of other examples of bad or poor news coverage, he focuses on the news coverage during the Vietnam War. A war in which some would say the media helped turn the country against the war and the troops who fought in it. While coverage of the Vietnam War may have been flawed, it is not necessarily all the Medias fault.
Cohen bases most of his theories on the role the media played during the Vietnam War on one incident that took place during the month of March in 1968. The My Lai massacre was incident involving U.S. Navy Seals and hundreds of Vietnamese civilians near Thanh Phong. Lead by former Nebraska Se
The media in general is flawed because it is influenced by public and what its viewers want. The media while capable of telling whole truths tends to settle for half because it’s what the viewers want to see. The Vietnam War is a good example of how the media can be two-faced, because it shows how media coverage changes thought the course of the war. While Cohen would most likely support my views, I don’t think he would give the media as much credit as I do for doing their job. The media must walk a fine line between what is best for ratings and the truth, like in Vietnam which one they choose is influenced by the people the have to deliver it too.
Cohen goes on to talk about a study done by a Professor Daniel Hallin from the University of California at San Diego, in which Hallin looks at the Vietnam War through the media and into American homes. While most Americans were lead to believe that they were being shown the true horrors of war, what they were really seeing was a very watered down version of the real story. Neither the media nor the government really wanted the true horrors of war to be shown on the television and they tried to
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