Academic Use of the NHK Archives (Collaborative Research): Uncovering Vietnam War Coverage [Part II]

North Vietnam as Seen through NHK’s Special Programs

Abstract

This is the second installment of a two-part series that uncovers and examines preserved footage of Vietnam War coverage as part of NHK’s initiative Academic Use of NHK Archives (type: collaborative research with NHK). The first installment focused on Nihon Denpa News (NDN)—a television news agency that undertook coverage of North Vietnam, which was inaccessible to major TV and other media outlets, including NHK—and analyzed the footage (primarily news materials) distributed by NDN, which is preserved at the NHK Archives in film and other media formats, to elucidate the characteristics of NDN’s North Vietnam coverage.

This second part examines how NHK used the footage distributed by NDN in its TV programs to report on North Vietnam. The analysis reveals that, in programs on the Vietnam War, coverage of South Vietnam overwhelmingly exceeded that of North Vietnam. Moreover, regarding representation, distinct differences between North and South Vietnam were identified in the portrayal of the leaders, soldiers and combat scenes, and civilians. In sum, it can be argued that NHK’s coverage of the Vietnam War maintained a neutral stance, yet nonetheless highlighted an image of North Vietnam as “a unified force fighting with no apparent signs of defeat.”