Radio: War of the Worlds CSP (1938)

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

 It tells the story of an alien invasion and the ensuing conflict between mankind and an extra terrestrial race from Mars.Mars. The text has been frequently interpreted as a commentary on British Imperialism and Victorian fear and prejudice. The book has been adapted for both radio and films, including the 2005 version starring Tom Cruise.

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 Trenton Police Department ​received over 2000 calls in less than two hours, while 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?

The broadcast, which disrupted households, interrupted reli-gious services, created traffic jams and clogged communications systems, was made by Orson Welles, who as the radio character, “The Shadow,” used to give “the creeps” to countless child listeners. This time at least a score of adults required medical treatment for shock and hysteria.

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

Orson Welles’ version of War of the Worlds remains a useful text to study since it has long fuelled the debate about the influence that media texts can have on audiences. It also highlights the role the news media can have in distorting the truth and even creating moral panic. 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.

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

In September 1938, one month prior to the plays broadcast, Hitler signed the Munich Agreement annexing portions

of Czechoslovakia and creating the ‘Sudetenland’. Europe’s failed appeasement of Germany was viewed with much concern and for many it seemed that another world war was inevitable. At this time, both the radio networks, including CBS, frequently interrupted programmes to issue news bulletins with updates on the situation in Europe.

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

CBS Radio Network

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

To easily create havoc in what would seem quite a vulnerable audience at that time based on the current tension with the war.

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

Because they created fake media and released it into a public settings and it was believed by many New Yorkers. meaning that media injects messages into the audience who passively accept these messages without challenge

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

viewers cultivate war of the worlds with the information by integrating it into their perceptions of real world and changing there view on the world based on the media they have just consumed which also relates back to frankfurt School's Hypodermic based some viewers really believe they see in the media.

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

war of the worlds contain a variety of messages that are encoded and put in by Orwell and then decoded and believed by audiences. Therefore what we see is simply a 're-presentation' of what producers want us to see.

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?

They do because it clearly proves that media conglomerates have the power to spread lies or fake news in the media for audiences for read and consumer and start progressing those values that they consumed from those market leaders.

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?

Because it proved that the media can be fooled by a made up story about the world they live in and during the time frame of the release it would be surprising that they would consume and believed media products they usually would believe.

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?

Orson Welles's use of radio conventions to create realism is a much more significant form of fake news because it generated and created a sense of moral panic for audiences and could have had a much larger impact on the regulation of media products than newspapers exaggerating the audience reaction to discredit radio.

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 agree with  Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle theory as audiences were very easily manipulated and believed most of the media that was consumed.

4) Has the digital media age made the Hypodermic Needle model more or less relevant? Why?

The hypodermic needle model believes that the media can have a direct and immediate effect on the audience meaning it is much more relevant because we are being subjected to more media on a day to day basis then ever before.

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 agree with the Cultivation theory since it offers good information on how media content might affect societal attitudes and views. According to the George Gerbners, regular exposure to media affects how people behave and view the world.

6) Is Gerbner's Cultivation theory more or less valid today than it would have been in 1938? Why?

Gerbner cultivation theory is definately valid for audiences as there is a lot more media being producted by unreliable sources more than back in 1938 as there was less regulation but the less amount of media published the more likely you would be subjected to it back then.