War of the Worlds: Blog tasks
Media Factsheet
Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet #176: CSP Radio - War of the Worlds. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets - you'll need to save the factsheet to USB or email it to yourself in order to complete this at home. Read the factsheet and answer the following questions:
1) What is the history and narrative behind War of the Worlds?
Orson Welles' 1938 radio play is an adaption of H.G. Wells' novel of the same name published in 1898. It tells the story of an alien invasion and the ensuing conflict between mankind and an extraterrestrial race from mars. This fictional narrative is often highlighted as an early example of mass hysteria caused by the media and used to support various audience theories.
2) When was it first broadcast and what is the popular myth regarding the reaction from the audience?
War of the Worlds was was broadcast live on 30th October 1938 with the most popular myth being 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 martians.
3) How did the New York Times report the reaction the next day?
The following morning the newspapers revelled the mass hysteria it has caused as being "too realistic and frightening". However, others would say the mass hysteria is just an exaggeration of actual events.
4) How did author Brad Schwartz describe the the broadcast and its reaction?
Orson Welles's War of the Worlds and the Art of Fake News' suggests that the hysteria it caused was not entirely a myth. It was just a viral-media phenomenon decades ahead of it's time that portrayed a false Armageddon.
5) Why did Orson Welles use hybrid genres and pastiche and what effect might it have had on the audience?
At first, he considered the radio narrative rework as boring so he decided to make the narrative more interesting through his use of pastiche - borrowing conventions from other media resources. In this case, he borrowed the radio newscast conventions to add shock and inflict moral panic. By creating a hybrid form - mixing conventional storytelling with news conventions - Welles blurred the boundaries between fact and fiction in a way that audiences had never experienced before.
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 became the greatest threat in the world making people think that war was inevitable. At this time, both radio networks, including CBS, frequently interrupted programmes to issue news bulletins with updates on the situation in Europe. this resulted in audiences becoming familiar with such interruption making them more susceptible to Welles' faux.
7) Which company broadcast War of the Worlds in 1938?
CBS - Columbian Broadcasting System
8) Why might the newspaper industry have deliberately exaggerated the response to the broadcast?
In recent years, different sources have suggested that the mass hysteria reported by the press was an exaggeration of the actual events. Indeed, contrary to another myth, the broadcast was not a hoax sprung on an unsuspecting audience. Rather it was a scheduled broadcast and was announced as "an episode of Mercury Theatre on Air."
9) Does War of the Worlds provide evidence to support the Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle theory?
Yes, " it is important to understand how how the press maginified and distorted those reactions, creating a story that terrified the nation all over again, so that we can recognise when the same thing happens today."
10) How might Gerbner's cultivation theory be applied to the broadcast?
Cultivation theory suggests that the more we consume a form of media, the more susceptible we become to the effects of it. This applies to the War of the Worlds broadcast, because the more people listened to the radio and familiarised themselves with the conventions of cut-ins, breaking news and journalistic-style reporting, the more predisposed they were to believing the hoax and recording.
11) Applying Hall's Reception Theory, what could be the preferred and oppositional readings of the original broadcast?
Oppositional reading - seen as a trick that was played on society to create mass hysteria which wasn't intended by Orson Welles'.
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?
Cultivation theory suggests that the more we consume a form of media, the more susceptible we become to the effects of it. This applies to the War of the Worlds broadcast, because the more people listened to the radio and familiarised themselves with the conventions of cut-ins, breaking news and journalistic-style reporting, the more predisposed they were to believing the hoax and recording.
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 was such a significant moment because it was during such as controversial era with high tensions of war and some members of the audience believe the broadcast and some even went the further mile to call it an act of terrorism.
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 newspapers exaggerating the audience reaction is more of an example of fake news. This is because even though both of these media texts were fake to some extent, the broadcast ultimately used the conventions of typical broadcast to create a realistic broadcast. The newspapers manipulated these conventions to exaggerate the effects in an attempt to encourage audiences to fear the impact of the 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 do agree with the Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle theory; I think that audiences are positioned to consume media without necessarily thinking about the way it may have been mediated or manipulated by the producers to cause the reaction they want.
4) Has the digital media age made the Hypodermic Needle model more or less relevant? Why?
I think that the digital age has made the Hypodermic Needle model less relevant in the 21st century. This is because more sources are available for different aspects of news and media content in general. Also, I think that as a result of growing up with digital media and an ever-changing media landscape, the younger audiences are more familiar with how to spot/handle fake news.
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 Gerbner's cultivation theory. I think that this theory applies to a wide range of media products and texts. It is clearly applicable to the WOTW broadcast, because people believed the content of the radio broadcast as a result of it being similar to the format of news that they were used to - their regular consumption of the radio and news made them more susceptible to being fooled
6) Is Gerbner's Cultivation theory more or less valid today than it would have been in 1938? Why?
I think that Gerbner's Cultivation theory is more relevant today due to the fact that there are more forms of media. The increased usage and reliance on media texts and products has meant that our behaviour and beliefs can become more impacted by what we learn through these texts.
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