- America enters Vietnam War
- Troops numbers increase
- Coverage is extremely favorable to U.S. involvement in war
- Brutal war images are shown to Americans, including burning of Vietnamese villages, Americans are shown how gruesome the war is becoming.
- Tet Offensive is portrayed in the media as a U.S. defeat, despite military personal claiming it as a Viet Cong failure. Media rejects proposal of producer Jack Fern that NBC begin a series showing Tet as a victory.
- Viet Cong prisoner is shot point blank in the middle of the day in front of everybody. Americans are shown in graphic detail the execution of the prisoner and complained that it was in bad taste to air the footage.
- Americans tired of the graphic images showing U.S. lives being lost, begin questioning involvement in the war.
III. 1969-1971: Opposition Reigns Supreme
- Walter Cronkite, highly respected and influential journalist travels to Vietnam, portrays the war as unwinnable.
- Other members of the media follow suit and demand U.S. to pull out of the war.
- New York Times and Washington Post produce documents showing U.S. intentions for entering war were political and not humanitarian or democratic.
- American opinion shifts from semi-favorable to overwhelmingly unfavorable.
- President Johnson announces the reduction of U.S. troops, in addition to his announcement that he will not run for reelection.
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