The Media in Vietnam       

   The below contains extracts from CIABASE  files
re the media in Vietnam. In addition, a Colonel Lansdale
document in the Pentagon Papers discussed how he worked
with five prominent U.S. journalists to generate propaganda
supporting CIA ops in Vietnam.

   In my opinion the media coverage could and should have been
much more pessimistic - but media reps got much of their
information from official sources who were trying to sell the 
war to the American people. The CIA's intelligence in my experience
was little more than that same propaganda designed to sell and
then perpetuate the war. The CIA's responsibilities for
covert action colored most all of its intelligence -- 
unfortunately not much has changed today.

Ralph McGehee
CIABASE


  vietnam, a u.s. army study concludes rising casualties caused the american
  public to stop the war not news coverage. despite flaws in war reporting
  "the press reports were still often more accurate than the public
  statements of the adm ". a 413-page study "the military and the media." it
  was not negative media coverage that eroded support for the war but
  casualties. washington post 8/29/89 a12

  cia ops in north vietnam in  54-55  established weapon caches, a lurid
  propaganda campaign that claimed nvn were torturing catholic vnese, claims
  accepted as fact by many u.s. publications. <si14

  domestic,  74-75   cia funded a vietnam institution that propagandized
  american people and congress. u.s. congress, church committee report.
  (1976) b 1 200

  domestic,  75   vietnam cia opened up its files to two newsmen to dress up
  agency's role in evacuation. colby also met with. snepp, f. (1977). decent
  interval 574

  kissinger, after nixon's inauguration told his staff that he alone would
  leak info to reporters - with one exception - anyone could talk to time for
  a cover story on him. his leaks became editorials, newspapers took
  up issues in which he interested and he altered a good many views re
  vietnam war. shawcross, w. (1979). side-show 98

  see article "sabotaging the dissident press," which details cia and fbi
  efforts to destroy various newspapers in opposition to the vietnam war plus
  other anti-establishment efforts. columbia journalism review 4/81
  p57-63

  usia and cia. snepp put two communist strategy papers together with his
  commentary that were issued in single package thru usia. usia in fact
  disseminating intel to western press. thru usia's "vietnam: documents and
  research notes" provided to journalists throughout cease fire period.
  "document" series intel which cia had generated was disseminated to
  journalists. snepp, f. (1977). decent interval 152

  vietnam,  49-75  during war, pham xuan an was an associate of a number of
  american journalists and embassy officials and a long-time communist agent.
  an worked with dr. tram kim tuyen, who ran "presidential social research
  service," a cia action agency for ngo dinh diem's can lao party. an later
  became an important employee of reuters news bureau in saigon. manning, r.,
  (ed), (1988). war in the shadows: the vietnam experience 17

  vietnam,  63  macv's story of war by summer of 63 so complex and so far
  removed from reality that a person expousing it required intense
  indoctrination in order to conduct problem-free conversations with a member
  of the media. newman, j. (1992). jfk and vietnam. 316

  vietnam,  65  cia's sitrep and newspapers said same thing as their info
  came from same source: general westmoreland's hqs in saigon. westmoreland
  headed macv since 6/20/64. adams, s. (1994). war of numbers 26,31

  vietnam,  68-72  cia's chief of station, shackley, stuck up 
  friendships with journalists who  sympathetic to war - robert shaplen 
  of the new yorker, keyes beech of the
  chicago daily news and later the los angeles times, and bud merick of u.s.
  news and world report. douglas pike an embassy expert on the vc met with
  beech and shaplen to find out what cia telling them. corn, d. (1994). blond
  ghost: ted shackley and the cia's crusades 181

  vietnam,  69-70  nixon told pat buchanan to "get me twenty letters of
  this," and by day's end he had inspired 20 letters to editor from "ordinary
  citizens," protesting biased coverage of ho chi minh's death. most letters
  manufactured in buchanan's office, which had compiled a list of phony names
  and addresses for just such a purpose. list salted with names of real nixon
  partisans. stein. j. (1992). a murder in wartime 330

  vietnam,  93  ned/hop luu foundation funding a magazine. funding "que me"
  magazine that publicizes re human rights. national endowment for democracy
  annual report 9/93 41-2

  vietnam, domestic,  54-75   cia helped create and support various
  vietnamese periodicals and publications. cia-supported vn publications used
  to propagandize american people and both houses of congress. u.s. congress,
  church committee report. (1976) b 1 454

  vietnam, domestic. cia pressured nyt to remove david halberstram from
  vietnam. he sent to poland. prouty, l.f. (1973). the secret team 238

  vietnam, el salvador,  65-81  see articles, the media go to war - from
  vietnam to central america; white paper, red scare; according to official
  sources; the great salvador election blitz. nacla (magazine re latin
  america) 8/83 2-36

  laos. oversight. to prevent congress from cutting back aid to war in laos
  massive media campaign that invented "invasion" by chinese or vietnamese in

  vietnam,  54-75  when buttinger returned from svn in 54 he claimed diem had
  the support of the people. but privately he noted the mandated elections of
  the geneva agreement would necessarily lead to "a communist regime for vn."
  when in the u.s. he embarked on a whirlwind of activity. articles defending
  diem appeared in the reporter and the new leader. he met privately with
  editors of time, newsweek, and new york times. he spoke before council on
  foreign relations. harold oram pr expert for anti-communist causes worked
  in close tandem with buttinger who sent reports to dulles re vn. the media
  blitz surrounding buttinger's return from vn represents an important
  example of a psychological program guided by cia, and yet targeted at
  domestic opinion. chester, e.t. (1995). covert network 162-3

  vietnam, media, propaganda,  50-75   cia created various vn periodicals.
  supported vn publications to propagandize american people and congress.
  u.s. congress, church committee report. (1976) b1 454

  vietnam,  73-75  cos polgar relayed reports to shackley that bolstered case
  for maintaining u.s. aid to thieu's gvt. he engaged in creative intel
  gathering. he applied tight controls on corruption and security problems,
  few cleared for release. in hqs, r. mcgehee wondered if east asia div was
  sleepwalking off a cliff. he protested to the inspector general. in 11/74
  he came across reports from officers in region iv. one cited high rate of
  defection of military and gvt personnel. other noted communists controlled
  much of an entire southern province. mcgehee compiled report to shackley
  and ddo william nelson that the south vietnamese gvt was in danger of
  immediate collapse. mcgehee heard nothing in response. corn, d. (1994).
  blond ghost: ted shackley and the cia's crusades 282-3

  vietnam,  54-56  lansdale's smm group wrote thomas paine type series of
  articles on vnese patriotism against the communist viet minh under
  direction of lieutenant philipps and captain arundel. essays disseminated
  through discreet inducements to the saigon media. mcclintock, m. (1992).
  instruments of statecraft 128

  vietnam. the christian and missionary alliance (c&ma), an evangelical
  protestant church had people in vn. the rep in pleikhu asked tribal people
  for info on nlf in area and then reported it immediately to the cia. nacla
  (magazine re latin america) 12/73 p8

  vietnam, media,  52   cia officers hanoi and saigon developed good contacts
  with catholic priests because they controlled newspapers and press outlets.
  smith provided propaganda items on viet minh for use in those publications.
  all agents and contacts were catholics. smith, j. b. (1976). portrait of
  cold warrior 80-81

  vietnam,  54-70  thomas dooley was a lt. junior grade in the navy in 51.
  his ship departed for haiphong on 8/12/54 in op passage to freedom.
  dooley's ship was converted into a refugee carrier. he worked on the ship
  and in haiphong. cia then was frightening the catholic refugees to get them
  to go south (where they manned diem's cia-backed government). they were
  transported south using maag cover and air america planes. operation
  brotherhood of filipino medics were sent by cia to participate. working
  thru lansdale the international rescue committee (irc) representatives
  organized the american friends of vietnam (afvn) to support diem. stories
  of communist atrocities were afvn's main production and they spread the
  tale to the new york times, time-life, and the new republic and helped
  write diem's speeches. irc's chairman was leo cherne. lansdale told his
  story through till and peg durdin of the new york times, hank liberman of
  the new york times, homer bigart of the new york herald tribune, john
  mecklin of time-life, and john rederick of associated press. navy capt
  lederer wrote a story for readers digest. lederer and the navy urged dooley
  to write a book. dooley was given many medals and awards. lederer helped
  write the book and arranged for readers digest to publish it. it became an
  immediate best seller. dooley made hundreds of talks and appeared on radio
  and tv. dooley formally resigned his navy commission and his mission was
  taken under the wing of the irc and its afvn. he with new senator kennedy
  and general daniel addressed the new groups meeting in 6/56. irc worked
  closely with cia. dooley's irc project became op laos care, meals for
  millions, and an entire net of volunteer agencies helped as did the navy.
  in laos, he began his first project in van vieng in central laos. he set up
  his major clinic in nam tha, a critical area in upper northwest, next to
  china. it is likely his project there helped the cia. pacific research 6/72
  10-14

  vietnam,  54-70  tom dooley established seven hospitals in four
  countries-and died in january 1961. medico, that dooley cofounded in 58,
  was absorbed by care. in 75 a priest pushed to have him named a saint - an
  investigation for sainthood revealed his ties to the cia. dooley in the
  navy after getting a medical degree from notre dame -- worked in refugee
  camps in haiphong, vietnam. his atrocity stories in "deliver us from evil,"
  was on best seller lists and was a readers digest condensation. dooley
  persuaded the international rescue committee (irc) (the book "covert
  network," examines the overlaping ops of irc and cia) to sponsor bush
  hospitals in southeast asia. he set up a hospital at nam tha, five miles
  from china. he wrote a second book, "the edge of tomorrow." in 58, he was a
  media sensation on talk shows and packed in audiences on the lecture
  circuit. in 2/4/58 he formed medico to run hospitals in foreign lands. he
  opened a hospital at moung sing in laos. medico was running or supporting
  programs in 14 countries. his three hour operation for cancer in 8/59 was
  televised by cbs and narrated by howard k. smith. he recovered and went
  back to lecturing and to laos. father hesburgh of notre dame asked paul
  hellmuth (who also did much work for cia) to check on his health in moung
  sing. dooley shared commencement rostrum at notre dame with the future pope
  and president eisenhower. dooley died a few months later. after his death,
  verne chaney of medico with dooley's relatives formed the thomas a. dooley
  foundation. details of problems and misdeeds associated with the
  foundation. article contains several pages discussing associated problems
  and efforts of the foundation. father kegler's sainthood investigation
  uncovered dooley's cia connection. dooley's books and lectures were
  punctuated with grisly tales of communist atrocities. shortly after
  "deliver us from evil" was published, six u.s. gvt personnel, wrote a
  23-page critique. the authors who worked with dooley in haiphong, criticize
  his book as "nonfactual and exaggerated...the book is not the truth." for
  his readers, dooley portrayed "the dastardly communists and the noble
  americans..." he talked about the domino theory. "this young doctor
  unknowingly played a part in creating a climate of public misunderstanding
  which made the vietnam war possible." notre dame magazine 5/79 10-17

  vietnam, media,  73-75   station analysts routinely called to provide
  "backgrounders" to journalists of the ambassadors choice. colby, w. (1978).
  honorable men 99