War

Media has changed considerably from Revolution to now. The media used has changed drastically along with the types of messages being promoted by news outlets. During the Revolutionary War only one specific message would be presented by an outlet. There were specific Tory, Patriot and Whig newspapers that would promote their own views. At this time only newspapers were available, so people would typically follow only the "viewspapers" of the side they agreed with. Th people during the time of the Revolution did not have the opportunity to hear all sides of a story, which is a privledge media outlets have since provided us with.

The Civil War is the first paper in which government parties did not own newspapers. Since the papers were not owned by one particular group stories could display different points of view, and give readers a more comprehensive understanding of what was happening during battles. Reporting for media outlets also changed during the Civil War since there was the telegraph, which was able to send article more rapidly. The invention made for a more informed public, since people far away from battles no longer had to wait weeks or months in order to hear reports. The third change that happened during the Civil War was the use of photographs. This helped give readers a more comprehensive understanding of battle. This was the first time readers had a visual image of what was happening during war time.

The third war that I choose to pick was the Vietnam War. This was the first war to use television, and it was clear that the American public was not prepared for the images. Television would stream video of American soldiers acting in malicious ways which quickly made the Vietnam War extremely unapproved of by the American public. After the Vietnam War it was common for news station to edit the content of video, being much more cautious since they were fearful of losing public approval for the war. The different invention of media have drastically changed the way the public views individual wars. Looking at these three wars shows the clear impact news outlets have on society's perception of an event.