How a peace inititative started from private american university can Case Study

How a peace inititative started from private american university can save nigeria - Case Study Example Students are advised to spend sometime away from normal class hours, to research on the impact of terror on the society and the prospects for peace. This case-study requires students to come up with peace strategies. These strategies should reflect a growth-based university that serves the needs of the society. The university’s president is charged with the responsibility of developing a plan of five years that will see the university attain its target. The faculty will cooperate with the students to contribute to the growth of the university into what its founder desired it to be. The results of this case study will have an impact on northern Nigeria, whole of Nigeria and Africa at large. The university has developed a strategic plan to run for five years, beginning in 2011 with the approval of the board. The main goal of the university is to become an institution that promotes development in Nigeria and Africa at large. In this way, the faculty and students are motivated to work towards attaining this goal. In particular, students are encouraged to take up leadership courses that can prepare them to lead the community and the country in future. By taking up these classes, students will use the knowledge acquired to transform the society and bring about peaceful co-existence. The university has come up with a peace initiative, the first of its kind in Nigeria, to bring about peace and harmony in northern Nigeria. This peace initiative was occasioned by the rise in terrorism and violence among communities living in this region. Nigeria is situated in Africa to the west and is one of the largest countries in that region. Today, Nigeria is reported to be the most highly inhabited country in Africa. Nigeria has had its fair share of challenges since independence. Governance and the fight against poverty have proved to be an

Nuclear proliferation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Nuclear proliferation - Essay Example Since campaigning for office, Barack Obama has frequently mentioned that, â€Å"in an ideal world, there would be no nuclear weapons†. The main goal of this essay is to evaluate this and explain why I agree or disagree with it.What I will argue is that the possession of nuclear weapons has in fact deterred and stopped a nuclear war. In fact, nuclear proliferation does not increase the risk of war, it prevents it. Based on what I will argue there is, even more, chance of a major war between states if there are no nuclear weapons.In the first section of this essay, I will analyze the theories that relate to this argument of further spread of nuclear weapons. To do that I will look into Kenneth Waltz’s theory of neo-realism and his thought on nuclear proliferation. I will also look into the theories like security dilemma, Mutual assured destruction and nuclear deterrence. In the second section I will analyse these theories in relation to the theoretical background. After t hat I will give my concluding remarks. The reference in this essay are in a Chicago style, both in the bibliography and footnotes.Neo-realism or structural realism is a theory which places emphasis on that ideology that the international system is anarchic. What is meant by this is that there is no higher government or an international police. The result of this is that states constantly try to increase their security and that is done with more power. The theory assumes that statesmen think and act in terms of self-interest defined as power.

The role language plays in teaching and learning

The role language plays in teaching and learning The role that language plays in the teaching and learning of mathematics is one of some of the important debates in the current literature in mathematics education. In this chapter, I review literatures related to this study, giving particular attention to the manner in which teachers engage students in the exploration of mathematical concepts and procedures, in order to explore different and existing kinds of patterns of interaction observed in multilingual mathematics classroom in South Africa. Aspects reviewed include the following sub-headings: Linguistic situation in South Africa; Teaching and learning mathematics in multilingual classrooms in South Africa; Does language impact teaching and learning of mathematics? And the role of the teacher and Learner participation in classroom discourse. LITERATURE REVIEW Linguistic situation in South Africa Post-apartheid South Africas new constitution of 1993/1996 embraced language as a human right and multilingualism as a national resource, raising major African languages to national official status alongside, English and Afrikaans (Hornberger Vaish, 2009). This has led to multicultural student populations in classrooms, schools and universities nationwide. The Language in education policy that was adopted in 1997 recognises all eleven official languages. According to this policy, learners have the right to study in any of the official languages of their choice (Department of Education, 1997). According to Hornberger Vaish (2009), South African scholars have documented ideologies favouring English in Black African communities of South Africa. She further claims that Zulu, Xhosa or other Black parental demands for English-medium instruction for their children are fuelled by the perception and reality of English as language of power; parents are simultaneously drawn to English by it h egemonic status and away from mother tongue education by a deep suspicion born of apartheid. I have seen in my experience as a learner and a teacher, parents taking away their kids from townships schools to former Model C schools where English is the most dominant language. The study done by Setati (2008), revealed that learners and teachers preferred English as the language of learning and teaching (LolT) and that learners and teachers choice of language was informed by the fact that English provides access to social goods such as higher education, employment, etc. Teaching and learning mathematics in multilingual classrooms in South Africa Previous and current studies on teaching and leaning in multilingual classrooms have indicated that teaching and learning in multilingual classroom is very complex. Barwell (2009) describes multilingual classrooms by saying these classrooms are considered to be multilingual if two of more languages are used overtly in the conduct of classroom business. And mathematics classrooms are also considered to be multilingual if students use two or more languages to do mathematics. There is a continuing debate regarding which language should be used for teaching mathematics in multilingual classrooms in which neither the teachers nor the learners main language is English which is the LoLT in their schools (Setati, Molefe Langa, 2008). This is typical situation in South African classrooms; teachers and learners come to classrooms with different levels of proficiency in two or more languages other than English and yet are not proficient in English. The research done by Setati, Chitera Essien (2009) shows that teachers in these classrooms face a major task of having to teach mathematics and English at the same time, while learners have to cope with learning mathematics, as a discipline of knowledge and also as a way of communicating, in English, a language that they are still learning. This research also claims that this places additional demands on mathematics teachers in multilingual classrooms and their learners who learn mathematics in a language that is not their home language. Does language impact teaching and learning of mathematics? The importance and the impact of language in learning and teaching of mathematics has long been acknowledged by the research literature (Howie 2002, 2003, 2004; Boulet 2007; Essien 2010; Barwell 2009; Setati 2008). Based on her analyses of the poor performance of South African learners in the mathematics component of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Howie (2002, 2003, 2004) suggested that the key factor responsible for the poor performance by South African learners was due to the low proficiency in English language and she suggested a solution to this could only be to develop the learners English language proficiency. Furthermore she argues that pupils who speak the language that is used in assessments more frequently, are likely to attain higher scores on mathematics. And if their language proficiency is higher, the learners are likely also to attain higher scores in Mathematics. Say more The role of the teacher and Learner participation in classroom discourse Current curriculum initiatives in mathematics call for the development of classroom communities that take communication about mathematics as a central focus. In these proposals, mathematical discourse involving explanation, argumentation, and defence of mathematical ideas becomes a defining feature of quality classroom experience (Anthony Walshaw, 2008). According to Boulet (2007) researchers in mathematics education agree and encourage teachers to involve learners in mathematical discussions, as communication is essential to the learning of mathematics. Specifically from the perspective of mathematics learning, by articulating the principles, concepts and rationale behind the steps of a particular problem solution, students have the opportunity to reinforce and deepen their understanding of higher-level knowledge structures in mathematical content. Furthermore, Moschokvich (1999) maintains that the important functions of productive classroom are uncovering the mathematical content in student contribution and bringing different ways of talking and point of views into contact. She further explains that in many mathematics classrooms, students are no longer primarily grappling with acquiring technical vocabulary, developing comprehension skills to read and understand mathematics textbooks or solving standard word problems. But students are now expected to participate in both verbal and written practice such as explaining solution process, describing conjectures, proving conclusions and presenting arguments. However, there are difficulties or drawbacks that can make it difficult for communication to run smoothly in classrooms. This can definitely prevent learners from accessing important aspects and concepts of mathematics or voicing their ideas. Most of our learners are not speaking English as their first language, whereas English is used as a medium of instruction in our schools, therefore a focus on correction of vocabulary or grammatical errors in what students say and the variety of ways that students who are learning English do can become problematic in learners mathematics acquisition. Now, the question is what do teachers do or can do in situations like this, to ensure and encourage learner participation in classroom? New curricula demands a lot from teachers. Worldwide, policy makers are placing increasing demands on schools and their teachers to use effective research-informed practices. The study done by Essien (2010) reveals that, in any classroom, the teacher plays a key role in the management of the communication in the classroom. He further argues that well-structured questions (unlike procedural questions requiring procedural answers) can provoke extended dialogue in the classroom, thereby creating opportunity for meaningful participation by learners. Furthermore, the study shows that the teachers ability to draw on learners linguistic resource: one of which is structuring questions to allow learners to sufficiently express their thinking, is therefore important in creating a classroom environment where learners are effectively participating in the creation of and fostering of their own knowledge. Walshaw Anthony (2009) maintain this by arguing that effective teachers facilitate classroom dialogue that is focused towards mathematical argumentation. They elaborate more on this by saying that students need to be taught how to articulate sound mathematical explanations and how to justify their solutions. Furthermore, encouraging the use of oral, written and concrete representation, effective teachers model the process of explaining and justifying, guiding students into mathematical conventions. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK In this study, I use the work of Jina and Bridie (2008) as a theoretical framework to take the work on patterns of interaction observed in South African classrooms further by explaining learner participation and teacher-learner interaction in classroom discourse. The motive behind the choice of this theoretical framework is that this study was done in South African schools on the topic: Teacher questions and patterns of interactions in the new and old curriculum. The study reveals that two patterns of interaction emerged, namely, funnelling and leading through a method. This study also expanded more on teacher questioning and how teacher questions can support learners thinking. Chin (2006) supports this argument by saying that questioning is a prominent feature of classroom talk. Teacher questioning should be in such a way that elicit what learners think, to encourage them to elaborate on their previous answers and ideas, to help learners construct conceptual knowledge. Thus, questioning is used to diagnose and extend learners ideas and to scaffold learners thinking. Campbell Erdogan (2008) claim that teacher questions can disrupt the flow of what is going on in the learners mind, so that the learners attention can be focused on instructional objectives. However, they claim that if used appropriately, teachers questions can engage learners in the vicinity of instructional objectives, help move instructional objects to the forefront of students attention, and promote learner translation and processing of instructional objectives. However, the deficiency of this study is that it does not take the forms of listening the teacher uses during classroom discourse. As I have discussed in chapter 1 of this study that, Davies (1997) outlines three forms of listening, and further argues that listening is a very powerful tool and should be used to foster teaching and learning of mathematics. Listening to others explanations gives learners opportunities to develop their own understandings. By listening to others, learners can become aware of alternative perspectives and strategies. Concluding remarks In this study I have discussed the difficulties of learning and teaching mathematics in multilingual classrooms. As Setati and Adler (2001) claim: There are numerous, distinct mathematical discourses that require navigation at the same time. Moving between language and discourses in moments of practice is significant challenge for mathematics education research and practice. These arise out of the South African context and have specific relevance in the current educational debates in South Africa. Multilingual mathematics classrooms are, however, an increasing urban phenomenon in many other counries. (p.244) Little is known about how educators experience and implement a new curriculum and instruction in contrast to what they used to know and apply. It remains uncertain what kinds of teacher knowledge are necessary to support and facilitate learning mathematics in a setting where main language of the teacher and pupils differs and where the language of instruction and teaching methods makes it difficult for mathematical discourses that promote conceptual understanding.

IQ And Environment :: essays research papers

IQ and environment It is obvious that a person’s intelligence stems from a variety of traits. The task of trying to quantify a person’s intelligence has been a goal of psychologists since before the beginning of this century. One of the important questions that always comes up regarding these tools is what are the tests really measuring? Are they measuring a person’s intelligence? Their ability to perform well on standardized tests? Or just some arbitrary quantity of the person’s IQ? When examining the situations around which these tests are given and the content of the tests themselves, it becomes apparent that however useful the tests may be for standardizing a group’s intellectual ability, they are not a good indicator of intelligence. A person’s environment has a great impact on cognitive abilities. We all perceive situations differently, which is not the only factor to take in to consideration, but it is a very important one. Is the light flickering? Is the paint on the walls an unsettling shade? Is the temperature too hot or too cold? Is the chair uncomfortable? Or in the worst case, do they have an illness that day? To test a person’s mind, it is necessary to utilize their body in the process. If everyone’s body is placed in different conditions during the testing, how is it expected to get standardized results across all the subjects? Everyone has good days and bad days. It is highly unlikely that everyone will be equally prepared for the exam as well as adjusted to the new testing environment. Because of this assumption that everyone will perform equally independent of their environment, intelligence test scores are skewed and cannot be viewed as standardized, and definitely not as an example of a person’s intelligence. Although intelligence tests are the same for everyone who takes it, the information that one is being tested on is relative to the environment in which they were raised. To really gauge a person’s intelligence, it would be necessary to put them through a rigorous set of real-life trials and document their performance. Physical intelligence, conversational intelligence, social intelligence, survival intelligence, and the slew of others are apart of our everyday lives.

Making a Hero

A hero and heroic journeys are the most important elements of Ancient mythology, and the Odyssey by Homer as an example of such epics. Joseph Campbell identifies three main stages of the hero’s journey found in monomyths: Separation, Initiation and Return. In the Odyssey, the main hero goes through these stages in order to prove and test his courage and heroism. Thesis Through physical journeys and trials, his personality changes for the better: while ‘initiation’ tests his psychical and psychological strength, separation and return reflect his personal qualities and new values. In contrast to traditional model proposed by Joseph Campbell, the Odyssey follows a parallel construction: readers know about his return and separation simultaneously. The first stage, separation, begins twenty years prior to the events depicted in the Odyssey. Readers know about Odyssey’s departure and causes of this separation through memories of Odyssey and other characters. The main difference is that Homer tells about separation through memories and isolated stories. Only in Book XVI, Homer describes the separation: â€Å"it is such a long time ago that I / can hardly say. Twenty years are come and gone since he left my / home, and went elsewhither† (Homer, Book XVI). This quote is very important because it tells readers about the past and helps Penelope to recollect events. Penelope is sure that Ulysses is â€Å"laid before her† (Homer). The most important is that the story about separation coincides with ‘return’ of the hero and his moral development. The rest of the story (the return) describes his new qualities and values developed during initiation from the psychological point of view. The second stage, initiation, consists of several trials and battles which show courage and enormous physical strength of Odyssey. The main trials include: the encounter with the Cicones, several years spent in Calypso’s cave; the battle with the Cyclops and the encounter with the Sirens show that only. The first encounters show his physical strength while the second ones test his psychological qualities. â€Å"Odysseus then you are, o great contender, of whom the glittering god with the golden wand / spoke to me ever, and foretold /the black swift ship would carry you from Troy† (Homer, Book X). This remark tells readers that his journey is not over and he needs great courage and bravery to overcome all difficult situations and eternal evil. It is possible to make certain distinctions between two stages of personal development (separation and return): for instance, fresh strong feeling in Odyssey hero is a different thing from the mass strong feeling in the people; or that some types and manifestations of feeling are gross self-indulgence and are not at all the thing they appear to be; or that an appearance of strong feeling may be only a mask hiding some weakness or other. Physical sufferings and trials have changed his personality and world views. At the stage of return, Homer does not tell about low morals of Odyssey and his habits, but describes him as a real hero who returns home. He inherits his honesty. In his love for women he shows that he has none of snobbery. At the end, the main hero is depicted as a keeper of law and traditions of the society. Also, Homer shows that it is dangerous thing to forget about human dignity and human code of ethics. â€Å"'The royal pair mingled in love again and afterward lay revelling in stories. / †¦ Odysseus told of what hard blows he had dealt to others and of what blows he had taken-all that story† (Homer, Book XXIII). This remark shows that after Initiation, Odyssey is a loving husband and father, fair ruler and son. At this stage, Odyssey combines the moral and social qualities of an ideal hero. In sum, the remarkable feature of the Odyssey is a cyclical structure of the Hero’s journey based on physical and psychological development of the main character.   Using a cyclical structure, Homer compares and contrasts the qualities of two different characters: Odyssey before and after the initiation stage. The inferences in the paper are important because they help to identify and analyze the main elements of the text, and then synthesize and summarize the main findings of the analysis. Works Cited Page Homer. The Odyssey. N.d. http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext99/dyssy10.txt

Vietnam War and the Media

Write an essay that offers a critical examination of the concept of the ‘guilty media’ thesis in respect of any war of your choice Natasa Perdiou The Vietnam War was the first war that allowed uncensored media coverage resulting in images and accounts of horrific events that served to shape public opinion of the war like nothing that had been seen before. This portrayal by the media led to a separation between the press and the U. S. government, as much of what was reported defied the intentions of government policy.The media has fell blame by many for the result of the war, as it is widely believed that the war could not have been won under the scrutiny that came from the American people as a result of the media coverage. From the beginning of the Vietnam War to the present, the media has been an immeasurable factor in the perception of the war as the stories, true or false, that were reported gave the American people a face to an ugly war. The question over how much, i f any, the media had affected the outcome of the war has been an unrelenting one and is likely to continue for a long time to come.But one fact that cannot be doubted is that the dreadfulness of war entered the living rooms of Americans for the first time during the Vietnam War. For nearly a decade the American public could watch villages being destroyed, Vietnamese children burning to death, and American body bags being sent home. Although early coverage mainly supported U. S involvement in the war, television news dramatically changed its frame of the war after the Tet Offensive. Images of the U. S led massacre at My Lai dominated the television, yet the daily atrocities committed by North Vietnam and the Viet Cong rarely made the evening news.Moreover, the anti-war movement at home gained increasing media attention while the U. S soldier was forgotten in Vietnam. There was a stable build up of US military support activity in Vietnam during the period 1954 to 1965, but the first c ombat troops did not emerge until March 1965. During this period, media attention in the war was slow in building up, the first resident TV correspondent, NBC’s Garrick Utley, only arriving in late 1964. The media did build up and as the war became progressively more aggressive, journalists were sent out in increasing numbers.It would be fair to say that reporting of Vietnam increased approximately in proportion to the military presence. Prior to the involvement of ground troops in Vietnam, media coverage was concentrated to the political dimension of the war of stabilizing a non-communist regime in South Vietnam. The media at this time was committed to reporting news that reflected the common anti-communist stance, which was so † powerful in the early 60's that as long as the Vietnam War remained small, the administration had little trouble with the press† (Hallin 28). [4]By 1965 media coverage of Vietnam increased as the U. S. was becoming more part of an aggres sive war. Reporting began to shift from the intention of eradication the world of communism to the frustration of the men in the field. After the heavy use of ground troops, a shift in coverage occurred that â€Å"put much of the attention on the military situation† of the war. (Wyatt 133). [9] An increasing number of reports began to emerge about a lack of incentive and motivation on the part of the South Vietnamese troops. This brought to question the whole role of American interference, as the U.S. was proposed to support the South Vietnamese in their effort against the North, not the other way around. 1965 did not only mark the increase of ground troops into Vietnam, it also brought the emergence of television into the realm of media coverage, while the government was trying to maintain the idea that that the U. S was making encouraging progress, that the Vietnam War was necessary and that victory was not inevitable. While a small percentage of coverage was dedicated to w arfare and death, what was seen was not forgotten by the American people.The famous General William Westmoreland states that â€Å"[the coverage was] almost exclusively violent, miserable or controversial; guns firing, men falling, helicopters crashing, buildings toppling, huts burning, refugees fleeing, women wailing. A shot of a single building in ruins could give the impression of an entire town destroyed. † [7] So, in spite of continuous reports of victory, the public had a hard time coming to grips with what they saw their troops involved in Vietnam. Such coverage, along with the vivid images that emerge on T. V. ed to a serious rise in anti-war protest that was merely strengthened by the events of 1968. The Tet Offensive of 1968 marked the greatest conflict in beliefs of the United Stated government and the media. In January, North Vietnamese troops attacked the North cities of South Vietnam and the U. S. embassy in Saigon. The media and the television, however, portray ed the attack as a brutal defeat for the U. S, totally altering the outcome of the war at the very moment when government officials were publicly stating that victory in Vietnam was â€Å"just around the corner† (Wyatt 167)[8].The media covered all the events that immediately followed the Tet Offensive and the American public began wondering whether this war could be won. Don Oberdorfer a Washington reporter said that â€Å"there’s no doubt Tet was one of the biggest events in contemporary American history, within two months the, American body politically turned around on the war. And they were significantly influenced by events they saw on television†. [2] The Tet offensive was not totally unpredicted by the US military.In reality, the final result was a success, in military terms, for the US as the Vietnamese did undergo serious casualties and were driven back. However, the America media were not expectant of the attack and assumed that the military did not ei ther. Seeing the US embassy being undertaken by the Vietnamese presented the event as a defeat, ‘television fell prey to its chronic lust for drama. ’[1] After the Tet offensive the media began to attack the American involvement in Vietnam.It became clear to the American public that there was no clear way to win the war. Also, in reaction to public mood the media started sending damaging reports from the frontlines; they suggested that American troops lacked the specific training for the terrain and the type of warfare they were subjected to. They also gave the idea to people that the new rebellious generation and the great pressures of the war meant that many soldiers were drug abusers and carrying out atrocities. The media concentrated on civilian casualties and incidents such as the one in My Lai,These images on people’s televisions, left people in outrage, many had lost faith in the war and saw no military plan capable of wining such a war. They were outraged by their country’s conduct in the war and were set into a moral panic, seeing brutal scenes of civilian casualties committed by their own troops. The war was now seen as a shameful one and the government was seen to be at fault, forcing many young men to their death or to commit the atrocities they saw on their TV screens.The former Vietnam correspondent Robert Elegant of the Los Angeles times said that â€Å"for the first time in modern history the outcome of a war is seemed destined to be determined not on the battlefield but on the printed page and, above all, on the television screen† [3] The reporting of the actual war was deteriorating, just at the moment when the American military advisers hoped to push for victory. The North Vietnamese causalities following the Tet offensive had left them vulnerable and it was expected that an immediate attack to cut the Ho Chi Minh trail would permit the US troops the chance for total success.The news, though, was almost tota lly concentrating on the rising anti-war division in the US and stories of low morale and indiscipline among the US troops. The media were responsible for the American withdrawal from Vietnam because of the poor quality of reporting which lacked in validity in its facts about events and incidents in the war. It seems with all these misreports or blatant lies, which was meant to purposely damage the image of the American fighting forces in Vietnam public opinion of the war was very low in America. However the question is to what extent, if any, did this coverage change the outcome of the war?It would be reasonable to suggest that the Tet offensive was the most significant incident in shaping the outcome of the war. The media certainly reported the assault in the most inaccurate way for the US army. Activist young journalists, who had not in the past witness any real fighting were all of a sudden bounded by fighting supposed that the North Vietnamese had won a great victory. The US go vernment and army were to a degree guilty since they were aware the assault was going to happen and did not inform the media for reasons of national security.There was a succeeding recovery by the Americans and the media did not report this. Moreover, fragile leadership, mainly from Lyndon Johnson, did not motivate confidence in the war effort. Evidence does also indicate that there was no absolute public support for the war, even earlier than the negative coverage by media began. The reasons for the war, to ceased the spreading of communism (the Domino Theory), were not clearly demonstrated and maintained. Some Americans began to realise that the Communist threat was used as a scapegoat to hide imperialistic intentions.After the media’s massive blunder of reporting the Tet offensive as a major psychological defeat, and not having the sophistication, integrity or courage to admit their error opposition to war rose sharply. These innumerable domestic divisions gave the chance to high ranking members of Johnson’s administration to begin expressing their disapproval of Johnson’s actions to the media. This put pressure on government into engaging in to a more defensive military strategy that may have altered the likelihood of victory for the US.President Johnson was under fire from anti-war ‘doves’ and submitted to both ceasing the bombing of North Vietnam and beginning the Paris Peace talks. As expected, he also announced his decision not to stand for re-election. To make things worse, the war cost two-thousand-million dollars every month. The price of many goods in the United States began to rise. The value of the dollar began to drop. The result was inflation. Then economic activity slowed, and the result was recession. Opposition to the war and to the Administration's war policies led to bigger and bigger anti-war demonstrations. Johnson’s successor, Richard Nixon, in an effort to gain the public support back announced a plan of ‘Vietnamization’ of the war. This involved swapping US troops with more South Vietnamese troops, trained and armed by the US, after the first US troop withdrawals from Vietnam started in June 1969. Unluckily for Nixon, this did not discourage the anti-war protest who demonstrated in record numbers (250,000) in Washington in November 1969. [10] Images in television in every living room in America were showing the true dreadfulness of war for the first time.Reports of military failure (especially Tet) and slaughter such as the My Lai event shaped an air of scepticism. The media at home were also reporting the rising number and intensity of anti-war protest, legitimising opposition to war. A thing television was guilty of was only placing emphasis on the US troops. The stories that made the news were always about US troops in combat, US troops doing civil action, sometimes US troops in trouble (desertion, drugs, fragging). The allies, whose losses (280,000 South Vietnamese dead) far exceeded those of American troops, were invisible to the American crews.This gave the American public the feeling that the war was being waged mostly by the Americans and it was probably this, more than the almost exclusively violent coverage which gave the public a sense of disillusionment and war weariness. Additionally, media coverage of the war in Vietnam shook the faith of citizens at home. The media was the catalyst, which promoted the rising American anti-war movement. They were to a great degree accountable for the American troops’ withdrawal from Vietnam because of its poor quality of reporting which lacked in accuracy about the facts and events of the war.It is obvious that this kind of misinformation seriously destroyed both the image and the morale of the American soldier in Vietnam. There’s no wonder public opinion of the war was very low in America. But the truth is that the media only sunk a slowly sinking politically based ship, as public opinion of the war was already falling. The public were already starting to see through the government’s political talk that they had no definite military plan for victory or a justifiable reason to fight against a nation of infantrymen.The American media just dramatised the events to entirely destroy the very political principles which started the war. The media caused such a moral alarm in America at the time, people lost trust in its own government. The media left t America in such a chaos that its own government had to surrender to public opinion. So to what extend are the media guilty for the loss of the war? The media played a key role in American withdrawal from Vietnam. It might as well be proper to suggest that with American support for the war, America forces effort into the war may have been better and the outcome of the war may have been different.Nevertheless, the chief reality is that the America forces in Vietnam had no apparent military strategy to be s uccessful in its political mean. So consequently the media can not be solely guilty for the American withdrawal. Yet, the question is, would have American forces been withdraw from Vietnam with no media negative reporting of the war? The answer is that we will never know for sure. But we can undoubtedly say that Americans’ support for the war would have mostly remained high all over the war, the pressure on the American troops and government wouldn’t have appeared.Without all of the these factors the American troops may have had the time to adjust to the style of warfare and topography and resolve the behavioural and discipline troubles they were facing which highly attracted the media attention. This could mean that America would have continued the war in Vietnam, which may, but not definitely would have created a different outcome. Despite this, you still can’t say that the media is totally responsible for the withdrawal of American fighting forces in Vietnam. It was the longest war in American history which resulted in nearly 60,000 American deaths and an estimated 2 million Vietnamese deaths.The financial cost to the United States was just as deep. Even today, many Americans still ask whether the American effort in Vietnam was a sin, a blunder, a necessary war, or a noble cause, or an idealistic, if failed, effort to protect the South Vietnamese from totalitarian government. Nicholas Hopkinson’s statement is the one that probably best reflects the situation of the media in Vietnam: As public enthusiasm faded, reporting became more and more critical[†¦] but to single the media out as the decisive element in declining public opinion is incorrect.US opinion turned against the war because it was long unsuccessful, costly in terms of human life and expenditure. ’[6] Words: 2314 References Bibliography: 1. Braestrup, Peter. â€Å"The News Media and the War in Vietnam: Myths and Realities† 2. Don Oberdorfer, Tet! , S eptember 1, 1971 3. Elegant, Robert, ‘How to Lose a War', Encounter, 57, 2 (1981), 73 89 4. Hallin, Daniel C. , The Uncensored War: The Media and Vietnam. Los Angles: California University of California Press, 1986. 5. George Herring, America's Longest War: The United States in Vietnam, 1950-1975 (1986) . Nicholas Hopkinson, â€Å"War and the media’’ Wilton Paper 55 (London: HMSO, 1992): 6-7 7. Westmoreland, William C. A Soldier Reports (Garden City, N. Y. , Doubleday, 1976) 8. William M. Hammond, Public Affairs: The Military and the Media, 1962-1968 (1989) and Public Affairs: The Military and the Media, 1968-1973 (1996). 9. Wyatt, Clarence R. Paper Soldiers: The American Press and the Vietnam War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. Internet sources : 10. www. nytimes. com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1115. html