Vietnam - the television war

 The power of Television

It is often said that the Vietnam War was the first television war - it was televised into our lounge rooms, and for the first time the community, young and old could see what war was really about. As a result, there was considerable resistance from sections of the community as the war dragged on, and the images of suffering and death continued to be seen on television screens in Australia. 

Interestingly, no war since Vietnam has had the same coverage in so much detail. Compared to the censorship in other wars, including World War 1, the coverage was extensive and very real. 

It is worth reading the writings and viewing the photojournalism of famous Vietnam war photographers such as the Australian Neil Davis to get an idea about how close the coverage was to the real action.

As a result of the images captured and stories told about the war, the home front was informed about the nature of war more than ever before. You may wonder if World War 1 and World War 2 would have played out differently if we had television when they occurred?

There are many great documentaries on Vietnam for you to look at and consider - some quite controversial as we continue to the write the history of the Vietnam War. 

For those of you who really want to immerse yourself in the Vietnam War, the series called The Vietnam War: A Film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick is pretty amazing. To watch it all is a bit of a marathon (10 episodes @ 1 hour 20 minutes) and very intense but a wonderful documentary of the events and things we will talk about and see in Vietnam. Please note that there is a cost to watch the series on Amazon and iTunes, and it is a big ask to watch it all, but worth a look if you choose.