The government’s stance on censorship at this time was…complicated. Like the Korean War, American journalists were allowed to self-censor, and were even provided transportation alongside the military as they covered operations.¹ Censorship was deemed “voluntary,” something for journalists to decide upon themselves. There were no real regulations put into place like there were in World War I & II.
This, however, does not mean that the press got away with everything. In fact, one of the most prominent court cases involving free speech rights happened during these years. The Pentagon Papers, a series of articles about certain highly classified U.S. documents, were published during the war.² These papers contained information about the United States’ involvement in the war that journalists at the New York Times decided citizens deserved to know. The press company was taken to court by the government, and in the New York Times Co. v. United States case (1971), the supreme court ruled that the government had no right to prohibit these papers from being published. This was a landmark case for First Amendment rights.
Although censorship was nonexistent, U.S. president still attempted to monitor communications between journalists and even throw them off. In some instances, President Nixon ordered wiretaps of reporters to discover where and how they receive insight into leaks of information. Other presidents and officials would also attempt to curb journalists by providing them with false information, or simply not enough of it.¹ There was no mandatory review or censorship system put into place during the Vietnam war, but the U.S. government still did what they could to hide information they did not want out.