U. B. Full of shit as usual. The luxury of looking back at the past is that we know what was true and what wasn’t. Instead of touting bias, tout lies. What lies were printed? You can point out lies can’t you? Why would we exchange “some reports” when we can exchange examples? You seem to forget another name for bias is spin. Spin and/or bias are applied to existing fact. They don’t change white to black, yes to no, or winning to losing. I don’t care about bias. Multiple sources can remove bias.
I care about lies.
But then you knew that.
Originally Posted by Munchmasterman
Master dick muncher, you have no regard for the truth. When the media engages in biased reporting, the net effect is a
lie. You can twist and squirm and equivocate, but that is the real
truth to the matter.
Peter Braestrup was a war correspondent for the
Washington Post during the 1968 Tet Offensive. Subsequently, Braestrup examined and reported on media bias regarding the Tet offensive incorporating his experiences as a former Marine infantry officer in Korea and as an experienced war reporter in Algeria and in Vietnam. Braestrup used his personal skills and knowledge to evaluate how the media covered the 1968 Tet Offensive.
During the course of his research, Braestrup read every word on the fighting during Tet published by the following media outlets: the AP and the UPI, the
New York Times,
Washington Post,
Time and
Newsweek. Additionally, he reviewed the video tapes of every TV news broadcast televised during the offensive by the three major U.S. networks: CBS, NBC and ABC. He collected extensive data regarding both print and TV reports; plus, he reviewed public opinion findings and incorporated his own investigative findings. The product of his research was a book entitled
Big Story.
In his book he lays out what he discovered:
First and foremost he maintains the press was not equal to the task; hence, the bias and the “misconceptions” - Braestrup’s polite term for lies.
Lie: The U.S. was completely surprised by the 1968 Tet Offensive. In fact, the press ignored cautionary reports issued by General Earle Wheeler and General William C. Westmoreland some weeks earlier in December and early January.
Lie: The press reported that the Tet Offensive was a tactical victory for Hanoi, when in fact it was a catastrophic tactical defeat.
Bias: When the allies met some initial reverses,
the press reacted by emphasizing the enemy's successes. When it was clear that the insurgents had been defeated, the press persisted in interpreting the offensive as a "psychological victory" for the Vietcong/ North Vietnamese Army, who "held the initiative." Furthermore, there was little or no objective analysis of the many enemy failures and troop losses.
Lie: The North Vietnamese offensive exposed the unreliability and decrepitude of the South Vietnamese: the U.S.’s primary ally. The press falsely reported that the offensive shattered GVN control over the country.
Bias: The press reported that the American military response was to destroy city districts and villages with overwhelming, indiscriminate firepower – as evident in journalist Peter Arnett’s description: “It became necessary to destroy the town to save it.” You remember ol’ Peter don’t you? He’s the one that latter fallaciously reported that the U.S. employed sarin gas in Laos during
Operation Tailwind.
Whereas it is true that American and ARVN commanders did have to use heavy weaponry in some urban areas, that response was not at all typical of the allies’ counteroffensive. In fact, the Battle of Hue is notable for the limitations that were imposed on the use of artillery and close air support to minimize collateral damage. This decision led to the deaths of scores of U.S. Marines.
Lie: The Viet Cong raid on the American embassy, the fighting in Hue, and the siege of Khe Sanh typified the war as a whole. In fact, these engagements were not typical, but unusual. Nevertheless, biased press reports identified these battles as "universals" typifying the war because they were conveniently visible and afforded dramatic photo ops. The fact that American and GVN troops subsequently prevailed and subdued the attackers was all but ignored by the press.
Lie: The Siege of Khe Sanh was christened America's Dien Bien Phu by the press. The media constantly reported that doom and disaster was inevitable for the beleaguered Marines. The fact is, B-52 Arc Light strikes nearly annihilated the attacking NVA.
The American war effort in Vietnam was undermined by the negativity of these lies and biased reports. Ultimately, it was Walter Cronkite, "the most trusted man in America," who dealt the hardest media blow against the war. In a special CBS News broadcast on February 27, 1968, Cronkite concluded his gloomy assessment: "We have been too often disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders, both in Vietnam and in Washington, to have faith any longer in the silver linings they find in the darkest clouds. . . To say that we are mired in a stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. . . It seems increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out will be to negotiate." Thereafter, other media outlets soon began to portray the war as “unwinnable.”
Based on Cronkite’s biased editorial, LBJ purportedly remarked, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, then I’ve lost Middle America.” A few months later, LBJ gave up the presidency: no small accomplishment for biased reporting.
Several months after Tet had drawn to a close, “an NBC producer proposed to correct the record with a three-part series showing that Tet had in fact been an enemy defeat. The idea was rejected by higher ups at the network because, a senior producer said, Tet was seen ‘in the public’s mind as a defeat, and therefore it was an American defeat’” (Braestrup).
General No Nguyen Giap, the Supreme Commander of the Viet Minh (NVA) forces said, in a 1989 interview with CBS’s Morley Safer, “The most important result of the Tet offensive was it made you de-escalate the bombing, and it brought you to the negotiation table. It was, therefore, a victory…The war was fought on many fronts. At that time the most important one was American public opinion.” (
The Vietnam War: An Encyclopedia of Quotations, Howard Langer, 2005).
No doubt you will equivocate, lie and reject these examples. That is the nature of a liberal Dimocrap when faced with facts. There are many more examples of how the press lied to and mislead the American people throughout the Vietnam War, but you can find them for yourself.
g that Doove is a ConeHead