ople didn't even own televisions and television film had to be transported by air. By the time such film aired it's immediate newsworthy appeal had significantly diminished. The Vietnam War, which began in mid-1965, was clearly America's first "living room war", a phrase coined by Michael Arlen. President Lyndon Johnson had begun the largest story television news had ever covered, when he dispatched large numbers of US combat troops to the tiny South East Asian country.
             In its initial days the war was reported in a way that was geared towards supporting the war effort. For the first few years the war was revealed in an upbeat manner. The typical broadcast program began with a battlefield round up, written from wire reports, based on the daily press briefings in Saigon. Journalists called these reports the "Five O'clock Follies". It was read by the anchor and illustrated with a battle map. The theme and temperament in these early days was somewhat of a World War II type atmosphere. The battlefield roundup was usually followed by a policy story from Washington and then a film report from the filed. The film was usually about five days old. The reports emphasized the bravery and skill of our American boys in action. Every Thursday the weekly casualty figures would be released in Saigon, next to the flags of the combatants. The American side would always show a lower number.
             Eventually the focus of the war began to change. The network heads back in New York wanted dangerous frontline type footage with the emphasis on the American soldier. This became a dangerous assignment, nine network personnel died in Indo-China and many more were wounded. The change in the coverage of the war began in 1965 when CBS aired a story by Morley Safer showing Marines on a search and destroy mission in the village of Cam Ne. The story showed American service men lighting the tops of huts on fire wit...