policy - The Black Vault

1 HE BOM CORPORATION
society, however, informing the public is important, and the media can be
-xDected to probo for whatever information may be available from all possiole
sources. The problems which are naturally characteristic of this
'transfer' oif information through bureaucracies to the public via the media
were exacerbated by the emergence of a government credibility gap in the
early years of US involvement in Vietnam. The expresssion 'credibility
gap' described the government's growing problem in explaining the objectives
and progress of US involvement in the Vietnam war to the media and to
4 tration and was widened considerably during the Johnson administration.
Media/government relations fared no better during the Nixon administration;
the American peop'½. The 'gap' first appeared during the Kennedy adminis-
indeed, they were characterized by intense and mutual d-strust. Some
journalists charged various administrations with exercising "news management"
and "news
manipulation", and in turn, the administrations found the
;ea ia guilty of news distortion of varying degrees.
Measurement of the media's impact upon US conduct of the war and
public opinion is difficult. No doubt the media had an impact on the
public's perception of the war, both its purpose and progress, but public
opinions are not derived solely from the news. Environmental factors,
built-in prejudices, social and peer pressures, education backgrounds--all
weigh heavily in developing individual beliefs and opinions. More
important is the nature of the media's influence on 'the policy-making
processes within government.
The Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administ,'ations and their treatment of
and by the media provide interesting and thought-provoking examples of
government/media relations during a protracted crisis--the Vietnam War.
Conflict between the US
government and the news media began in the
A,. early 1960's despite the foundations of close, supportive reporting of
military actions by the news media that had been laid during World War II.
That tradition had continued through the Korean War and to the beginning of
US involvement in Southeast Asia. During the post World War II years, the
news media were changing rapidly as the objects and beneficiaries of the
"communications revolution."
At the same time, the media were undergoing
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