In the USA’s recent wars in World War 2 and Korea the media had been very much on the government’s side. Many historians have suggested that the role of the media in the Vietnam War was very different.

• Work in pairs.
• Use the programme and the Quotations to collect any evidence that the media played an important role in the Vietnam War.
• When you have looked at the evidence, decide whether you think that the media’s role was a positive or negative role overall.

You may need to think about what this might mean to different people. For example, a member of the US Military Command may have a different view of what positive means when compared with the views of an anti war protester.

You have been commissioned by Channel 4 to add an extra five minutes to this programme. It is to be a straight documentary section rather than in the style of What The Papers Said. Use the recommended web sites to research your documentary. Your aim is to focus on events in Vietnam and Saigon. The best place to start your research is probably this web site:

Fall of Saigon Stories (http://www.wvmccd.cc.ca.us/mc/Fall)

Use the programme, the Internet sites and any other resources to write your own article for a British newspaper in 1973, at the time of the end of the Vietnam War. The title might be:

The aim of the article is to assess the mood of the American people at this time. You will probably find evidence of the following feelings:

• Defiance – the USA did not lose
• Sorrow – US involvement was a mistake
• Divisions – memories of protests against the war
• Concern – especially about the POWs
• Resolve – not to make these mistakes again
• Bitterness – the feelings of the veterans.

Use the quotes from the programme to cover some or all of these feelings. Remember that you are writing for a British audience. They will know about the Vietnam War. However, they will not be too clear on how it has affected Americans.