There's a lot to bitch about re the news media and Vietnam, etc. What is needed at this conference are personal observations concerning what the media did correctly and professionally in their covering a very complex war, as well as what they did wrong and/or unprofessionally.

Think of an incident you personally saw or participated in, and then how it was reported in the print media, TV, etc. What can you add to explore this incident and issue?
Those who participated in the Tet battles should have a lot to work with. The same for those who saw the atrocities committed by the VC and NVA.

What we don't have are many stories from Laos and Cambodia.

Since Dolf Droge is going to conduct this session, you will be getting one of the best participant/observer's points of view and actual experiences.

Also, Viet Vets should contrast today's reporting from Iraq with that of Vietnam - the good, the bad, the neutral. etc.

I say this as a Vietnam journalist and the father of a son who fought in Iraq.

It is important that the media not be allowed to get away with deliberate, and that is the key word, deliberate, distortions, bias, incompetence etc. Where they screw up, let's nail them. Where they did a good job, let us praise them. There were a lot of journalists, often from smaller papers, who did a great job in reporting the story, and who have never really been acknowledged. I'm thinking of a book by a former soldier named MacDonald called "Report or Distort". He wrote about those people who didn't get bylines or TV sound bites.

I my opinion, after having been a journalist for almost 35 years (among other jobs), is that the mainstream media is still pretty biased against America, though I see some improvements. However, the embedded journalists in Iraq were really some of the best that I've ever seen/heard. It is back home, at the editorial/policy level, that things get turned around, esp. at CNN and CBS.

What happened in Vietnam framed the way the news media reported foreign affairs for decades, often to the detriment of our country and our armed forces.

This session should be the Viet vets chance to level the playing field with factual observations, criticisms, praise, and suggestions on how military operations should be covered.