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?

It is a radio play about conflict between man kind and aliens who came to earth. This was an adaptation done by Orson Welles of a novel written by H.G. Wells. 

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

It first broadcasted on 30th October 1938 and audiences reacted by fleeing their homes and calling the police due to the hysteria.

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

They reported audiences reaction the next day as a mass hysteria. 

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

The mass hysteria was not entirely a myth as the broadcast was something ahead of it's time. 

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

The borrowing of different aspects of radio and plays he was able to create mass hysteria in listeners as they were shocked and not used to hybridity. 

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

There was already fears about war with Germans which further caused stress as the show was about invasion and war. This means some audiences may have thought that what was happening in the show was real. 

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

CBS Radio was the company that broadcasted War of the Worlds in 1938.

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

They had done this to provoke panic in audiences to retain the audiences that would have moved to radio using fear which in turn protects their industry dominance.

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

Yes as it shows how audiences will automatically believe anything they hear from the media without researching or rethinking. 

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

It shows how heavy and frequent viewers of the media are more likely to believe the media just as how audiences of the War of the Worlds viewers reacted. 

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

Preferred: That the story isn't real but still is interesting

Oppositional: The story is real and that the aliens are actually attacking earth

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 believe that digital products can no longer trick audiences as we have learn through experiences like War of the Worlds but also now we have the internet to do our own research.

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 radio was a constant source of information and comfort so people trusted what they had heard on the radio.

2) How did newspapers present the story? 

They exaggerated how bad the audiences reaction was to try to make radio look sinister to maintain its dominance in the media industry. 

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

The rise of radio came with widespread scepticism about its benefits and downsides. However, radio eventually became part of daily lives of  the public as it provided information during desperate times like during war and the great depression. 

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

Radio was uncensored and unregulated. This scared older generations that younger generations would be harmed by unfiltered content. 

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

Bobo Doll - proof about how the media (WOTW in this case) affects audiences directly

Cultivation theory - more we consumer media the more we believe media messages which is what happened with WOTW

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’

These headlines show how newspapers reported on the broadcast and audiences reaction as something that threatens the nation which shows the second stage of Cohens moral panic theory - the media gives a threat a recognisable form.