Rough Justice on a Saigon Street: A Gatekeeper Study of NBC's Tet Execution Film

Abstract

Step by step, person by person, decision by decision, the authors record the story of the filming and telecasting of General Loan's famed shot. The “organization” proved to be the gatekeeper.

The primes of our times?

“…Specifically, individuals in this experiment did not automatically align their opinions with anti-war protestors highlighted by John Paul Filo's photograph of the May 1970 shootings at Kent State University; instead, our findings are consistent with research that has documented people's often-negative considerations about protestors, who are commonly perceived as unruly, unnecessary obstructions to social order (e.g. Bailey and Lichty, 1972;Robinson, 1970). Indeed, our results indicate that individuals presented with the photograph responded more favorably toward the entities opposing the protestors, in this case the federal government.…”

“…In fact, however, the limited evidence suggests that people react in complex ways to news images, even widely disseminated and discussed 'icons of outrage' (e.g. Bailey and Lichty, 1972;Bennett et al, 1992;Perlmutter, 1998). The reality, we suggest, is that individuals of course can be persuaded by images, but that one's pre-existing values, cognitions and feelings often play a major role in how images are attended to, interpreted and acted upon.…”

“…Further, the few audience studies are suggestive that public reaction to news photographs, for example, is much more complex and more diffuse than common wisdom (Bailey and Lichty, 1972;Bennett et al, 1992;Perlmutter, 1998). It is our contention, therefore, that an integral part of understanding the impact of news -on ordinary citizens and policy-makers alike -must include an examination of how people process media messages.…”

Bias in television news coverage of political events: A methodological analysis

“…24 And yet popular expectations and journalists' norms may define some news as requiring a more (or less) critical stance than it otherwise would be due. 25 There does not, however, appear to be a strong basis for arguing that one politician rather than another should receive preferential treatment from the media. 26 The model implies that selectivity is more a consideration of relevance and not a question of balance and impartiality.…”

T.V. newsroom gatekeepers

“…Intrinsic values have the potential to influence these gates. Bailey and Lichty (1972) wrote about the NBC's Tet Execution Film, conveying its difficulty in gatekeeping decision making. As an execution was taking place on the street, an NBC film crew in Saigon filmed color motion pictures of the execution of a Viet Cong prisoner.…”