policy - The Black Vault

THE BDM CORPORATION
during the Vietnam war years.
The credibility gap developed both in Washington
and in Saigon as newsmen noted apparent ciscrepancies between stated
government policies and the activities that they observed in the field. As
respected newsmen began to question the credibility of the US government,
their papers' policies toward the Vietnam War began to change.
In the analysis which follows, emphasis is placed upon the style of
presidential interaction with the media, since the president is key to
setting the tone of government/media relations.
Peter Braestrup, an authority
on the media and the Vietnam war writes "the media need a coherent
President." He continues:
... it is imperative that in any war, a coherent
strategy be decided on early, that it be understood
throughout the government, and that it be manifested in
both presidential words and actions. Simplicity has
its virtues, above all, in dealing with the media...
policy contradictions, incoherence, and shifts make the
media lose contidence even sooner than does the general
public...Thus, presidential behavior and the plausibility
of presidential policy are key to understanding
media treatment (with its Washington orientation) of
the Vietnam war as a whole. 16/
1. Kennedy Administration Media Relations
long standing.
President Kennedy's
interest in the press was personal and of
His ability to express himself on television was the deciding
difference in his race for the presidency against Richard Nixon in
1960. Kennedy was an avid reader, and during his administration, the
newspapers and magazines came to occupy a particularly important position.
Government officials could be certain that articles concerning their particular
fields of interest which appeared in The New York Times, The
Washington Post, Washington Evening Star, New York Herald Tribune (officially
banned from the White House at one point but still read by the
"President), Time, or Newsweek, would be read by the president. This knowledge
of the President's reading habits provided cabinet members and other
government officials with an important communication link to the president.
17/
3-9
S Aý