The Truman Doctrine is an American foreign policy that pledges American "support

for democracies against authoritarian threats." The doctrine originated with the
primary goal of countering the growth of the Soviet bloc during the Cold War.

Diem was a corrupt leader, did not like Buddhism and treated the majority Buddhist
population badly. Much of South Vietnam’s population was rebelling against him. The
peasants wanted communism and supported the Vietminh.

North Vietnamese boats attacked a US Navy destroyer, the USS Maddox, patrolling
in the Gulf of Tonkin. This was organized by the United States secret services, which
was presented as a fact and the incident gave the USA the excuse it needed to
escalate the war.

As soon as the then-popular magazine The New Yorker began publishing stories
about the failure of American involvement in Vietnam, its advertising revenue
decreased” (p. 89). This shows that the government controlled the content of the
media, as it imposed economic consequences if it was portrayed in a bad image.

TET - LUNAR NEW YEAR - 5 MAIN CITIES

US GOV became increasingly unable to convince the American public that it had
been a major defeat for the communists.

the American public perceived that the war was not being won by the United States and its allies,
despite assurances from the President and military leaders that such was the case

THE GOVERNMENT SAID SOMETHING BUT THE MEDIA SHOWED SOMETHING

DIFFERENT

POINT OF INFLECTION, CHANGE AMERICAIN PERSPECTIVE

Likewise, this could explain why there was no press coverage of the My Lai
massacre until seven months after the events, and why it was issued by such a small
and little-known publisher as Dispatch News Service. This was a constant struggle
between the government, the military forces and the media, who fought for the
success of the war without generating a feeling of rejection in the population.

NEY YORK TIMES POSTED