Final answer:
The essay from 1996 likely discusses the historical events concerning the Pentagon Papers and the Supreme Court case regarding freedom of the press. The context of the question is set during the Vietnam War, particularly relating to actions by the Johnson administration that were exposed by the release of these documents.
Step-by-step explanation:
The essay referenced in the question likely pertains to the controversy around the Pentagon Papers and the government's efforts to maintain secrecy during the Vietnam War.
While no specific essay from 1996 is referenced that supports the possibility of the affair between the U.S. government’s actions and the media, the overall context suggests the essay would analyze the significance of the Pentagon Papers' release and the resulting Supreme Court case.
This release exposed various actions by the Johnson administration, including the planning of ousting Ngo Dinh Diem and Johnson's intention to expand the U.S. role in Vietnam despite his public remarks to the contrary.
The writer of such an essay would be commenting on a historical event, hence the subject of this question is History. The discussion around these events includes the Nixon administration's attempt to prevent the publication of future articles based on the Pentagon Papers by injunction, which was appealed by the New York Times, leading to a landmark freedom of the press decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 30, 1971.
The motive behind writing such a document could be to provide a factual account of the events and possibly to persuade the reader about the importance of transparency and freedom of the press.