America in Vietnam classes analyzed a variety of Vietnam War media coverage at a workshop in the Paley Center for Media on Tuesday, November 20.
Mrs. Cecelia Manno, the teacher of the America in Vietnam course, organized the trip to the Paley Center for Media. Students took the D train to West 52nd street in Manhattan to the workshop. Two guides greeted the students at the Paley Center and took them to the screening room to view the workshop. The segment was called “ The Living Room War: Television and Vietnam.”
     According to the Paley Center for Media website, television has deeply influenced the portrayal of the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975, and that is why the Vietnam War was also known as “The living room war.”
          The advancing technology, such as color television during the Vietnam War period, gave on scene reporters unlimited access to the battlefields of Southeastern Asia and the opportunity to broadcast directly from the battlefield. Unlike most governments during war, the United States government made no attempt to censor reporting during the Vietnam War. Due to this freedom from censorship, people regularly witnessed pictures of wounded and dead soldiers, as well as bombs dropping, airplanes flying and other graphic combat footage on television. People were free to form their own opinion and give insight on the Vietnam War. Thus, American views of the military, government, and the war were divided.
             Students found the workshop attention grabbing and instructive.
            “For me, the fact that the museum had actual footage from the Vietnam War made the trip exciting and interesting,” said Kelly Khan ‘14.
             Students like Khan enjoyed this trip because they prefer learning about Vietnam through ways other than classwork.
           “I felt that the movie clips were really educational because we got first hand experience about how it was like during the Vietnam War,” said Jacqualin Gjeli ‘14.
            Mrs. Manno was also pleased that her students behaved so well and asked sharp questions.
           “I was proud of Midwood students. They were very involved in the presentation and asked thought provoking questions,” said Mrs. Manno.