1968: The Global Revolutions

Combat Zone: Vietnam > Media Wars

The Vietnam War was fought in the media, as well as in combat areas. TV news reports brought battlefield footage into American living rooms on a nightly basis. Increasingly skeptical of optimistic official reports, journalists often wrote critically of the conflict. North Vietnamese press outlets similarly strove to manage and control messaging related to the war. The Vietnam News Agency, founded in 1945, was – and remains – the official media outlet of Vietnam. The English-language Vietnam Courier was published by the North Vietnamese Ministry of Information, and was intended for consumption by foreign readers. Headlines such as “Revolutionary Heroism, Secret of our Success” suggest the propagandistic tone of the journal.

Vietnam News Agency
President Ho Chi Minh’s New Year Message, 1967
Harrison E. Salisbury Papers

Committee of the South Vietnam National Front for Liberation
Urgent Statement, 1967
Harrison E. Salisbury Papers

Vietnam Courier, 1967
Harrison E. Salisbury Papers

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