During the most intense part of the Viet-Nam War, America’s nightly news broadcasts regularly carried reports of successful engagements by the United States military. Large piles of bodies of North Vietnamese soldiers were seen piled up on the screen. This was part of what America saw every night over dinner as they continued to hear about U.S. military accomplishments fighting the Viet-Cong.
In 1968, at the height of the war, 16,899 Americans died in combat, an average of over 400 a day. The media largely glossed over U.S. losses as it championed American successes. Meanwhile, many of the reporters in Saigon and in the field recognized the serious combat struggles American forces were having fighting in the jungle.
Following the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive and U.S.’s dramatic increase of 200,000 U.S. troops sent to Southeast Asia, Walter Cronkite, America’s renowned television news anchor personality, travelled to Viet Nam to assess the situation for himself. Cronkite, who polls consistently had reported was the most trusted American after the Reverend Billy Graham, was a traditional member of the press since his reporting days in World War II. Cronkite believed that his job was to convey to the American people what the American Government told him was transpiring on the battlefield. Now the “star” of CBS News travelled to Viet Nam to work as a traditional reporter both in Saigon and Hue.
Upon his return from Vietnam, Cronkite had what has become known among journalists today as a “Cronkite Moment.” Based on his own reporting, Cronkite realized that what the U.S. Government was saying was at odds with what Cronkite saw transpiring in the field. During a special one-hour report on CBS at the end of February, Cronkite changed both his approach to news reporting as well as his analysis of the war. He told the American people what he had seen in the field and that he believed the best the U.S. could achieve in the War would be a draw.
Upon hearing Cronkite’s program, President Lyndon Johnson reportedly said concerning the impact this report would make on the American people, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.” It took some months but by the end of the summer, following the Tet offensive, increased U.S. casualties, and the “Cronkite Moment”, polls indicated a dramatic decline in public support for the war. By that time Johnson had already announced he would not run again. One of the leading anti-war candidates, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, also had been assassinated.
Today:
There is growing sense that something analogous to the way America and the American people handled reporting on the Viet Nam War is evolving today in Israel. Since the war in Gaza began Israeli media has covered the war largely by showing the impact the weeks of bombing and shelling have had on buildings, roads, and structures in Gaza. Unlike the Western media, it has largely refrained from depicting the consequences of the air and artillery attacks on the civilian population.
While there is Israeli military censorship on army movements, personnel, and tactics, there is no embargo on showing the human side of the battles. Out of deference to the Israeli citizenry in general and the families of those killed, wounded, and held hostage, Israeli media has refrained from showing much of the footage which is being shown around the world of the impact of the war on non-combatant Palestinians. (This is done in the full knowledge that it is available to Israelis on CNN and/or on-line.)
It is beginning to appear that the citizens of Israel also need a “Cronkite Moment” of their own. The U.S.—public as well official--and world opinion are pressing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to move rapidly toward at least another temporary ceasefire and exchange of hostages/prisoners. They are pushing him as well for a change in strategy.
Whatever will occur in Israel as its “Cronkite Moment” it is unlikely to come from a media source. The news business and the nature of reporting has changed so dramatically that it bears no resemblance to the 1960’s. Israel needs a major political or public persona to emerge to facilitate a step down in the hostilities in Gaza.
Israel’s goals to eliminate Hamas is unlikely to occur right now. Israeli tactics in Gaza will change while its goal will remain to eliminate the Hamas leadership. Following the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre of Israeli athletes, it took Israel ten years to eliminate all the perpetrators.
The polls in Israel demonstrate that the Israeli public appears to be moving more to the political right, but its toleration of Bibi Netanyahu and his Government are over. As did President Johnson, the Israeli Prime Minister needs to find an exit strategy or be given one—soon.
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