And That’s the Way It Is: The Media’s Role in Ending the Vietnam War

Abstract

The Vietnam War, also known as “The Living Room War,” was the first major American conflict to be so honestly documented by the media, as previous war correspondence focused mainly on the positive aspects of the war, to keep morale up on home soil. However, with the advent of television and the American citizen’s growing need for the truth, the media developed into an entity that no longer delivered second-hand messages, but instead sought their own information, thereby leading to the American people’s loss of faith in their government and the war it so strongly believed in.