In this episode of Explaining History, we explore the fraught world of war reporting in Vietnam during the decade before full-scale U.S. involvement. Drawing on Philip Knightley’s classic study The First Casualty, we examine how embedded American correspondents were constrained by censorship, official manipulation, and the Pentagon’s control over information. We also highlight the surprising advantage held by some British reporters, who—operating outside the U.S. military’s embedded framework—were often able to uncover truths their American colleagues could not. Finally, we consider the striking indifference of the U.S. media to Vietnam before 1964, and what this meant for public awareness of America’s growing commitment to the conflict.

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