Radio: War of the Worlds CSP (1938)

 War of the Worlds: Blog tasks

Media Factsheet

Read Media Factsheet #176: CSP Radio - War of the Worlds. You'll need your Greenford Google login to download it. Then answer the following questions:

1) What is the history and narrative behind War of the Worlds?

Orson Welles' 1938 radio adaptation of War of the Worlds is renowned for inciting widespread public panic, as listeners believed the fictional broadcast of a Martian invasion to be real. The broadcast's realistic presentation through faux newscasts led to thousands of calls to police and media outlets, exemplifying media-induced mass hysteria and influencing audience theory discussions.

2) When was it first broadcast and what is the popular myth regarding the reaction from the audience?

Broadcast live on 30th October 1938, popular myth has it that thousands

of New Yorkers fled their homes in panic, and all across America

people crowded the streets to witness for themselves the real space

battle between earth and the Martians.

3) How did the New York Times report the reaction the next day?

 the New York Times switchboard received

875 calls from concerned listeners wanting to know where they would

be safe.

4) How did author Brad Schwartz describe the the broadcast and its reaction?

 Author Brad Schwartz in his 2015 book ‘Broadcast Hysteria: Orson Welles’s War of the Worlds and the

Art of Fake News’ suggests that hysteria it caused was not entirely a myth. “Instead it was something decades ahead of its time: history’s first viral-media phenomenon.” He argues that “the stories of those

whom the show frightened offer a fascinating window onto how users engage with media content, spreading and reinterpreting it to suit their own world views.

5) Why did Orson Welles use hybrid genres and pastiche and what effect might it have had on the audience?

By borrowing the conventions of the radio newscast, he is able to create real

moments of shock and awe, which almost certainly account for the strong reaction it received.

6) How did world events in 1938 affect the way audiences interpreted the show?

For most Americans, as for most Europeans, these were scary time which put them on edge. Many listeners believed that what they were listening to was an account of an invasion by the Germans. One

listener claimed “I knew it was some Germans trying to gas us all, but when the announcer kept on calling them people from Mars I just thought he was ignorant.”

7) Which company broadcast War of the Worlds in 1938?

CBS Radio

8) Why might the newspaper industry have deliberately exaggerated the response to the broadcast?

It has been suggested that the panic was trumped up by the newspapers to rubbish this new medium which it viewed as a huge threat. “Radio is new but it has adult responsibilities. It has not mastered itself or the material it uses,” said the editorial leader in the New York


9) Does War of the Worlds provide evidence to support the Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle theory?

Yes since the media acted as a needle, injecting information in to peoples brains. And people believed news although it was false without question.

10) How might Gerbner's cultivation theory be applied to the broadcast?

cultivation theory states that high frequency viewers of television are more susceptible to media messages and the belief that they are real. Heavy viewers of TV are thought to be ‘cultivating’ attitudes that seem to

believe that the world created by television is an accurate depiction

of the real world. Applied to War of the Worlds it could be argued that

an audience familiar with the frequent interruptions to radio shows

over the weeks leading up to the broadcast did not question the faux

invasion broadcasts during Welles’ production.

11) Applying Hall's Reception Theory, what could be the preferred and oppositional readings of the original broadcast?

The dominant or preferred reading by the audience is the

one intended by the creator of the text. However, a person might read

it in an oppositional way depending upon factors such as their age,

gender or background. For example, a young male is likely to ‘read’

page three of The Sun as a bit of harmless fun (the preferred reading),

whereas a female might regard it as offensive.

12) Do media products still retain the ability to fool audiences as it is suggested War of the Worlds did in 1938? Has the digital media landscape changed this?

(the Blair Witch), the film sparked debate among audiences as to

whether the footage was actually real. However, given that audiences

received the text in a movie theatre (or on video and DVD) it is

unlikely to have fooled the audience in quite the same way – or with

the same authority – as a series of radio news bulletins.

Media Magazine article on War of the Worlds

Read this excellent article on War of the Worlds in Media Magazine. You can find it in our Media Magazine archive - issue 69, page 10. Answer the following questions:

1) What reasons are provided for why the audience may have been scared by the broadcast in 1938? 

The Great Depression had made food and jobs scarce and tensions in Europe had almost reached boiling

point, but through it all, the radio was a constant source of information, comfort, advice and entertainment.

2) How did newspapers present the story? 

The papers made a

conscious decision to present it as a

‘hoax’, inferring there was something

malicious about the intentions of

those making and broadcasting it, and

were swift to point out the sinister

power of the medium of radio itself.

3) How does the article describe the rise of radio? 

uncensored, unregulated radio content.

4) What does the article say about regulation of radio in the 1930s? 

it was very unregulated. 

5) How does the article apply media theories to the WOTW? Give examples.

that listeners will have come up with their own understanding of the show (and subsequent stories in the

papers) as individuals, offering either dominant, negotiated or oppositional

readings. This would explain why some loved the show and accepted it instantly as entertainment while

others panicked and called the police. It would also explain why some will have thrived on the newspaper

excitement while others may have thrown their copy in the bin in disgust.

6) Look at the box on page 13 of real newspaper headlines. Pick out two and write them here - you could use these in an exam answer.

‘Radio Play Terrifies Nation;

Hysteria Grips Folks Listening in

Late’

‘Radio Fake Scares Nation’