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r.s. between US govt and media was good → government wanted to win domestic support for the Vietnam war
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Journalists accredited by MACV → would get access to war zones, interviews, regular reports.*
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in return → they were expected to not reveal any information which would help the enemy
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by 1968 → tone of reporting on Vietnam was beginning to change.
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Tet offensive seemed to be main reason.
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during Tet offensive → journalists abandoned their restraint.
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Tet offensive convinced many journalists → US could not win war
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Walter Cronkite of CBS news on American TV station - was one such journalist.
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he publicly criticised US war effort in Vietnam on national TV.
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some believed that this swung public opinion on US involvement in Vietnam war