Australian History
Book Details

War and Words

The Australian Press and the Vietnam War

Academic Monograph

Trish Payne

Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War presented moral dilemmas that divided the nation.

About this Title

Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War presented moral dilemmas that divided the nation. The changing ways that Australian newspapers covered the conflict both reflected these dilemmas and inflamed them. Trish Payne's insightful analysis of Australian reporting of the Vietnam War traces the shifts in emphasis of the coverage, the influence of government on the news that reached the public, the extent of our allegiance to the American viewpoint and the lack of a balancing Vietnamese perspective.

War and Words presents clearly the influences that shaped the media agenda of the time and identifies patterns of press coverage that continue to be discernable in the reporting of current military conflicts.

About the Author

Dr Trish Payne is Lecturer in Political Communication at the University of Canberra. She is especially interested in communication to, from and within Parliament House Canberra, the Canberra Press Gallery and foreign and war reporting. She has published widely in these areas of interest, including, as Australian Parliamentary Fellow for 1997, The Canberra Press Gallery and the Backbench of the 38th Parliament 1996-98.

978-0-522-85326-1