Photojournalists/Reporters in Vietnam

Photojournalists/Reporters in Vietnam By Kharizma and Chelsea INTRODUCTION Reporters and photographers went through a big change in the Vietnam War and changed the style of reporting the war for future journalists. They went from reporting directly off of press releases and forming happy, enthusiastic stories to investigative reporting and writing cold, hard truthful stories. The stories coming from Vietnam and the photos coming from the front line did more than sway public opinion, they helped end the war.

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 called the most unpopular American war of the twentieth century. It resulted in nearly 60,000 American deaths and an estimated 2 to 4 million Vietnamese deaths (Digital). Estimating the number killed in the conflict is extremely difficult, the true death count will probably never be known (Vietnam War).

Information from: www.associatedcontent.com/article/454065/how_media_coverage_of_the_vietnam_war.html

QUESTIONS

1)Who was the 1st female combat photographer in the war?

2) How did journalists/photojournalists effect the public's view on the war?

3) When did the credibility of the American government suffer its biggest loss?

4) What are three of the most recognizable photos of this time?

5) True or false: 135 photojournalists died while covering the Vietnam War?

6) Who took one of the best known images of the American evacuation of Saigon in 1975?

7) In Vietnam, the journalists were accused of doing what?

8) What is the irony of this? 9) What did one of the most famous war photographers, Eddie Adams, die of?

RESOURCES 1) www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2006/07/leroy.html 2-4) www.associatedcontent.com/article/454065/how_media_coverage_of_the_vietn am_war.html 5) www.iwm.org.uk/upload/package/29/mediawar/technolviet.html 6) www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/business/media/16vanes.html 7-8) www.salon.com/news/opinion/glen_greenwald/2007/04/24/halberstam_vietnam .html 9) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Adams_(photographer)

INFLUENCE OF THE VIETNAM WAR ON THE GROUP

The Vietnam War influenced this group a lot. Many journalists died while trying to cover the war. The journalists traveled to Vietnam to cover the war and experienced all of the dangers in Vietnam. (Land Mines, jungles, weather, stray bullets, etc) The group also had a large influence on the war. Because the journalists showed the cold hard truth of the war to the public, the war lost the support of many Americans.