THE IMPACTS OF THE REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM PRESS POLICY ON PRESS ACTIVITIES IN SOUTH VIETNAM (1969-1975)

Abstract

Throughout the invasion of South Vietnam (SVN), part of the United States government and the Republic government of South Vietnam paid great attention to the press, considering the press as an important tool in the psychological warfare strategy. To create a legal basis for the general operation of the press, each government established in SVN had set out the guidelines and management of the press through the issuance of administrative documents, i.e. the law on the press, from that, the Republic government of Vietnam (RVN) had built the SVN press as an effective tool for its political goals. Especially, in 1969, the law No. 019/69 on "Determining press regulations" was promulgated - the first time in the history of Vietnamese journalism in SVN, the press had a common and unified operating regulation. This law had a profound impact and dominated all aspects of press life in contemporary SVN. This article will present an overview of the press policy of the Republic government of Vietnam in the period prescribed by the Law No.019/69, from 1969 to 1975, as a basis for judging the impacts of this law and these policies on journalism in the South Vietnamese state. The research on the press policy of the government of the Republic of Vietnam (1969-1975) is also a necessary approach to contribute to clarifying the nature of the Vietnamese press in the South Vietnam before 1975.