The Sixties a Period of Change

The sixties is the period of social, cultural and political upheaval from the 1960s-1975.

Photo: Eddie Adams Vietnam War.

Events during the time included the Vietnam War (between 1959 and 1975). The Vietnam war was between the communist North Vietnam and communist allis v. South Vietnam government support by the US. 1.5 million military personnel died and 2m civilians.

The vietnam war was the first major war to be televised.

The other events during this time was the baby boomers (born around the end of WWII. Counterculture - Popular music Rock n' Roll, music and widespread drug use. Sexual revolution - Experiments in open relationships.

Across the world TV is still the most important source of news for the American public. It is the most powerful influence on public opinion. During the 60s TV went from B&W to Colour and there was no censorship of war journalists.

"Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America -- Not the battlefields of Vietnam." ~ McLuhan's View

Vietnam War occurred in; Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. From November 1955 to it's close in 1965.
Nick Ut took a photo of a group of children who had been through a Napalm bombing. The picture
essentially changed the way people thought about the Vietnam war.

Eddie Adams took a photo of an American general who shot a Vietnam communist. This was also was circulated in the media at the time.

The Vietnam war was the last time the western media had relative freedom of coverage. That freedom no longer exists now.