A picture speaks 1000 words

In public relations we are considered words people, using the power of the pen to tell our stories.

It is sometimes forgotten the power a picture can possess. Yes words are better at conveying nuanced messages, helping you to speak directly to your audience; however often one image can capture the hearts and imagination of a nation in a way words rarely do. Images are not exclusive; they speak a universal language which can be understood by everyone.

The Vietnam War was often considered the first ‘television war.’ In the 1960’s people could see the Vietnam War in colour and in the comfort of their living rooms. In the mid-1960’s, television was considered to be the most important source of news for the American public, and possibly the most powerful influence.

Initially the coverage was pro-American, with interviews and a generally positive spin. The violence in the news reports often involved little more than puffs of smoke in the distance, as aircraft bombed the unseen enemy. It was only when the war came into urban areas that the destruction and suffering started to appear regularly on TV.

The real change came with the beginning of American troop withdrawals in 1969. The focus was still on ‘American boys’ and the troops were still presented in a sympathetic light. Nevertheless journalists were growing increasingly sceptical of claims of progress, and the course of the war was presented more as an eternal recurrence than a string of decisive victories. Visuals from the war zone, although not violently graphic, placed emphasis of the human costs involved.

The power of these images being beamed directly into American homes and around the world helped to change the tide of public opinion, putting pressure on the government to eventually pull out of Vietnam.

So I suppose if there is a moral to this tale, it is this. Sometimes we should put down our pens- because there is truth in that old saying; a picture speaks 1000 words.

By Pema Seely