Vietnam: A Television History; Interview with David Halberstam, 1979 [part 5 of 5]
Description:
David Halberstam was a New York Times reporter in Vietnam during the War. He describes American press as a threatening presence for both the American and Diem governments. He recalls a wealth of anonymous sources willing to share their stories and describes a tension between the anti-communist, Cold War attitudes of news editors and accurate reporting from Vietnam - which would change after the Tet Offensive. He recounts President Kennedy's attempt to have him removed from his post in Vietnam, and Ambassador Lodge's visit to Saigon. Finally, he discusses the evolution of war reporting from a focus on the Vietnamese to a focus on the Americans and the dramatic effect of television news.