Media+in+the+1960's

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The 1960's were a time that changed America forever. One of the biggest changes came in the media. The media itself made significant changes, but also made new impacts on the American public.

The Vietnam War began the use of embedded journalists. This was the first time that journalist were able to take large amounts of footage so close to the action of a war. And media outlets sought to take advantage of this as much as possible. At the time, the government had not yet put limitations on what journalists could film and air on television. So TV's in American household were for the first time getting real footage from a conflict. And the footage the public saw was sometimes horrifying. With new videos on the news daily, it could make the war feel closer to home than ever before in history. This type of journalism was one of the major catalysts for anti-war sentiments and the eventual end of the war. The Vietnam War led to reform in the way embedded journalists could conduct themselves. No longer can the journalist say anything they want (a reason for the Giraldo Rivera scandal in 2003 > Geraldo). But we still see this in American culture. Every day during the main operations of the Iraq War, we were told the current death toll and shown clips from Iraq. The legacy of journalists in Vietnam is still around today.

1960 was also the Kennedy versus Nixon presidential election. This election had the first ever presidential debate aired on TV. This was the first time all of the American public had the ability to see the candidates go head to head. Some historians have even suggested that this helped Kennedy win the election. Kennedy already had the look of the all American man. Nixon, however, seemed less trustworthy to many. During the debate, Kennedy came off as competent and intelligent, whereas Nixon was more nervous. Even today we still presidential debates on TV, the latest being between Barrack Obama and John McCain for the 2008 presidential election. These videos still help Americans decide who they would prefer to vote for and tell us about where candidates stand on the issues.

Under the video there is a rather iconic photograph taken by Eddie Adams. The photograph depicts the Southern Vietnamese General Nguyen Ngoc Laon executing Viet Cong Ngyen Van Lem. The picture was taken during the Tet Offensive in 1968. This image, among other iconic Vietnam War pictures, shocked the American public more than even the videos of combat. They showed many of the great atrocities that were occurring during that period. These images polarized the American public. And there were many more, including the photo of the Buddhist or the escape from Saigon. This is still seen today. The best example is the photograph of the young woman that was taken for National Geographic. The picture did not shock the American public, but it did expose it to a new, and sometimes strange, world.

The last form of media covered is music. During the 1960's a counterculture emerged from music and lifestyle that opposed conservatism and war. During the period songs became more symbolic and political, like Bob Dylan's "The Time They Are A-Changing" and Credence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son." Other songs represent the lifestyles of the time in which they were written, like Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit." The 1960's also brought us the artists who have become legends today, like Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles. These artists completely changed the face of music as we know it now. You can still see the influence of these artists in music today, in everything Rock and Roll to Hip Hop. Not to mention that Jimi Hendrix's cover of "All Along The Watch Tower: is still used in documentaries about war and movies about the Sixties and Seventies (including Forrest Gump). Plus the era created the largest concert event of the twentieth century, Woodstock. Woodstock is still remembered and imitated, including the fiascoes that were Woodstock '94 and '99 and movies like Taking Woodstock.

All of these things are still extremely prominent in America today. However, today we have even greater access to these things, including instant news footage from events happening halfway around the world and blogs imposing their opinion on the casual internet surfer. This begs the question "Is media too prominent today?" It seems that at least biased media is too prominent (in the forms of things like news outlets like CNN and FOX News). So what we may learn from all of this to better the future is maybe we, as viewers of this information, should more closely watch and research information to make sure we are not being bombarded by more personal opinions than facts. The media is not something wrong or to be feared, but the viewer does have to proceed cautiously when taking in the messages it provides us.

The Glog itself is also representative. Its juxtaposition of retro, Fifties and Sixties theme are contrasted by the somewhat violent imagery and heavy songs. This is a symbol in itself of the turmoil of the 1960's.