European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 28, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes april daily Magazine a photo Antiwar protests spread across in by Fred Rothenberg associated press Vietnam was the first television some who watched it Hope it will be the television War that ends All television they blame to coverage to a lesser newspaper reporting for americas failure to defeat the communists in South they say the War May have been lost on Walter Cronkite evening Lyndon Johnson always Felt he had two adversaries the and the said Bill the lbs news commentator who served As president Johnsons press when Cronkite departed from the Anchorman strict code of impartiality and declared on the air that the War was Johnson knew the Public relations Battle was if he had lost the president confided to he had lost the never before had a War come into the nations Homes in such compelling never again should it said Dean Secretary of state under my own View is that if Congress Ever has to look at this situation it must give some thought to at least the kind that we had in world War said now a professor at the University of with that sort of with that sort of open cover age without sooner or later you would have to pay the Piper in terms of Public said George Johnsons press Secretary after Moyers left in television and newspaper reporters said they offered objective truth to an american Public they contend had been deceived for years about an impending Victory we were allowed to see the War our coverage has become the Standard by which journalism is still said Dan a Vietnam correspondent for lbs and now Anchor of the lbs evening even retired Alexander Haig has writ it want bad it was bad Vietnam set the tone for later coverage of said Cable news network correspondent Peter who won the pulitzer prize for his Vietnam reporting for the associated today it is almost mandatory to interview guerillas you get to see the other some Pentagon officials have acknowledged privately that their experience with the press in Vietnam contributed to the decision to ban reporters from the 1983 Grenada theres no doubt that the military establishment was badly bruised by said the most senior military officers blame the after they blame the i want surprised they didst let us go to the military is still in amazed at the depth of the even said Ernest a lbs news vice the military is convinced that the news Media is the reason the United states had to pull out of in the Early War some to reports criticized but deep scepticism didst develop until later in the in then executive producer of the evening and ent Charles Collingwood did a two hour documentary that Leiser called fairly fighting Vietnam pc to War one of the most controversial to reports of the Early years was by Morley safer of now a member of the 60 minutes in safer showed soldiers using cigarette lighters to Torch the Village of Cam which the military considered a Viet Cong Rusk is still bitter about that claiming that a lbs camera Crew went into a deserted Village and directed the soldiers to Light the thatched asked the source of his Rusk said he didst As the War became More particularly after the tet offensive in to reporting took on a harsher it was the first time we had evolved from the traditional position of right or to a growing scepticism with no perceivable said who produced Cronkite documentary in which the Anchorman concluded that the United states was mired in Dan in the and de in the represented the new Breed of television reporter covering these two lbs correspondents had grown up with to i went there with a healthy said Brad i also went there As probably the most naive per son in the world about i watched it on like everyone but nothing on to had prepared me for the reality of rather prepared for his tour of duty by Reading accounts by some Well known War including Ernie Pyle and Ernest but this was a new a new Day and a totally different kind of he rather said reporters looking for stories were basically in the helicopter hitchhiking he gave to High Marks for its except that we didst capture fully enough the immense frustration of the Rankan file Grunt who could see Little of the some of Bradley strongest reports came from living with the Viet Cong for a that convinced me that there was no Way that the could win the he the resolve i saw i never saw in the South one Guy had been fighting for 30 he told me Well we May not win in my but Well pictures fuel to and it was Only after communications satellites were in place in the Early 1970s that to could compete with newspapers and radio for someday coverage of the we really didst take to seriously As said their reporters were rarely in the places that we a photographer Eddie Adams won a pulitzer prize for his 1968 photo of a South vietnamese general executing a Viet Cong suspect on a Saigon the first to footage of the on came two Days later after the photo had appeared on newspaper front Arnett Arnett said the big change came in i remember it the a always had out staffed but by the networks had three Crews each at big they were chartering getting same Day Competition from that when i realized the enormous resources the networks although Johnson devoured press accounts of the his former aides said he was most affected by to and he believed Many americans were similarly affected by those powerful i think from the very from the very first we were never innocent of the Impact of to Cronkite i assumed that what grit me would grip the american gripped South vietnamese National police chief executing a Viet Cong captive in Saigon in