Radio: War of the Worlds CSP (1938)

 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?
War of the Worlds was a book adapted to radio by Orsen Welles, in which it featured the earth under attack from an alien species which was broadcasted across American radio channels.

2) When was it first broadcast and what is the popular myth regarding the reaction from the audience?
The myth that arose from this interaction was that aliens from the planet Mars were invading earth.

3) How did the New York Times report the reaction the next day?
They wrote about it in such a way that antagonises radio as it was the next big thing to come up so they wanted to make it look bad so that people would come back to print newspapers.

4) How did author Brad Schwartz describe the broadcast and its reaction?
He called it the false Armageddon and how fake news can spread. 

5) Why did Orson Welles use hybrid genres and pastiche and what effect might it have had on the audience?
He borrowed conventions of real news radio reports and used people who sounded like they had jobs such as professors, this made the broadcast seem more real.

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

Because of the recent war and how it was during Halloween time, people were paranoid about war happening again.

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?
At the time Radio was rising up and was taking over newspapers, as a result newspapers wanted to make radio look worse.

9) Does War of the Worlds provide evidence to support the Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle theory?
We can apply this as people believed the broadcast when they heard it as there were people who were moving out.

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

it emphasises the longer-term effects that media texts have upon audiences.

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.

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?
I think yes as there are people still to this day that can fabricate such things and have people who will believe it.

Analysis and opinion

1) Why do you think the 1938 broadcast of War of the Worlds has become such a significant moment in media history?

I think it is as it shows how news that isn't true can have an impact on people.

2) War of the Worlds feels like a 1938 version of 'fake news'. But which is the greater example of fake news - Orson Welles's use of radio conventions to create realism or the newspapers exaggerating the audience reaction to discredit radio?
I think that the newspaper as they discredited radio and how the radio had later said that everything was fake.

3) Do you agree with the Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle theory? If not, was there a point in history audiences were more susceptible to believing anything they saw or heard in the media?
I think that there was a hint of a two step flow as they had people pretending to be professors and confirming about the situation.

4) Has the digital media age made the Hypodermic Needle model more or less relevant? Why?
I think that it has become more relevant as there are many examples such as social media trends in which people will just believe.

5) Do you agree with George Gerbner's Cultivation theory - that suggests exposure to the media has a gradual but significant effect on audience's views and beliefs? Give examples to support your argument.
I think it does as it has become part of our daily lives and being exposed to it for a long time can make it so that we make it a more reliable source in our eyes.

6) Is Gerbner's Cultivation theory more or less valid today than it would have been in 1938? Why?
I think it could be less valid today as we the internet and how there are people who could just post about it and show images that nothing is happening.

Extension task: 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 world war that happened recently.

2) How did newspapers present the story? 

They antagonised the radio so that they could look better

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

They call it "reckless radio"

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

They made a decision to mark them as a hoax.

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

hypodermic needle theory shows how everyone who listened in believed the horrors that were happening during the time.

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’