Minimester 2015
1960’s in the News
Classwork - A look into “media moments”
Trends in Journalism in the 1960’s:
● By the 1960s, it had become practical to get fresh images of events from abroad onto the news every
evening. The broadcast of disturbing footage from Vietnam on television gave the public a daily dose
of the horrors of war and swayed public opinion. The press focus on Vietnam eventually helped bring
the Johnson administration to its breaking point.
●
Philosopher and public intellectual Marshall McLuhan founded an academic movement which sought
to explain the media's relationship to culture. He is most famous for saying, “the medium is the
message;” in other words, the way information is communicated is often as important as the
information itself.
●
As television became increasingly popular, writers reacted with the creation of a "new journalism"
based largely on literary technique and first-person accounts. Tom Wolfe (The Electric Kool Aid Acid
Test), Truman Capote (In Cold Blood) and Hunter S. Thompson (Hell's Angels) all published works
that straddled the line between literature and journalism.
Group 1: Nixon vs. Kennedy, 1960; first debate on television. Begin watching at minute 2:30.
Watch a bit of the clip and answer the following questions:
1. What do you notice about the way in which the debate is structured and presented?
2. How might a televised debate impact the way audience members perceive the candidates?
3. Does the televised debate favor one candidate over another? Why?
4. How do you think politicians in recent years have used televised debates to influence audience
members?
Group 2: Lyndon Baines Johnson’s “Daisy Commercial” (1964)
1. What is your initial reaction to this campaign advertisement?
2. What is the primary message sent to the viewer in this clip?
3. This commercial was aired only once because it was too controversial. Do you think this commercial
should have been allowed to air in the first place?
4. What power does the medium of television have with regard to political campaign ads?
Group 3: Television coverage of the Tet offensive during the 1960’s
1. What is your initial reaction to the live TV coverage in Vietnam?
2. Do you think this is fair or balanced coverage? Why or why not?
3. How might these images influence the public’s perception of the war?
4. Do you think 24 hour news coverage of news events today is good for American society? Should
there be restrictions on what is shown?
Group 4: Watch Cronkite in Vietnam at minute 6:50 of this video
1. What did Walter Cronkite report to the audience after coming back from Vietnam?
2. What power did Walter Cronkite show with his news report from Vietnam?
3. Was it inappropriate for Cronkrite to criticize the U.S. policy in Vietnam as a news anchor?
4. Do you think reporting today has become more “objective” these days? Or, do you think reporters
interject their own views more and more today?
Group 5: Watch a bit of this Video of Watts Riots from 1966
1. What are your initial reactions to this news report?
2. Is this “objective” or fair reporting?
3. What impact might a television report like this have on the American public, as opposed to the
newspaper or the radio?
4. What do you think is the appropriate role of journalists when it comes to covering social issues?