War of The Worlds CSP

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 play is an adaption of H.G. Wells’ novel of the same name, first published in 1898. It tells the story of an alien invasion and the ensuing conflict between mankind and an extra-terrestrial race from 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 (several) films, including the 2005 version starring Tom Cruise. It was also famously turned into a best-selling musical album by Jeff Wayne in 1978 (recently updated by Gary Barlow as a touring stage musical).

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. The Trenton Police Department (close to the site of the fictional invasion) 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.

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

MANY FLEE HOMES TO ESCAPE ‘GAS RAID FROM

MARS’ – PHONE CALLS SWAMP POLICE AT BROADCAST

OF WELLES FANTASY

A wave of mass hysteria seized thousands of radio listeners

between 8:15 and 9:30 o’clock last night when a broadcast

of a dramatization of H. G. Wells’s fantasy, “The War of the

Worlds,” led thousands to believe that an interplanetary conflict

had started with invading Martians spreading wide death and

destruction in New Jersey and New York.

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.

In Newark, in a single block at Heddon Terrace and Hawthorne

Avenue, more than twenty families rushed out of their houses

with wet handkerchiefs and towels over their faces to flee from

what they believed was to be a gas raid. Some began moving

household furniture.

Throughout New York families left their homes, some to flee to

near-by parks. Thousands of persons called the police, news-

papers and radio stations here and in other cities of the United

States and Canada seeking advice on protective measures

against the raids.

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?

His version of War of the Worlds reworks a Victorian narrative about an alien invasion (which he considered “boring”) and turns it into an exciting radio play through his use of pastiche. 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. 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.

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. As a result, audiences became familiar with such interruptions and were thus more accepting of Welles’ faux newscasts at the beginning of the play.

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

War of the Worlds was broadcast by the CBS Radio network. Founded in 1927 CBS Radio was one of two network radio stations broadcasting to the nation. (Its competitor, NBC, had launched a year earlier.) CBS Radio continues to operate as a radio broadcaster and is part of the CBS Corporation which has interests in publishing and music as well as being a major news and television producer.

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. So, the papers seized the opportunity presented by Welles’s programme, perhaps to discredit radio as a source of news. The newspaper industry sensationalised the panic to prove to advertisers, and regulators, that radio management was irresponsible and not to be trusted.”

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

Orson Welles’ broadcast is frequently cited as an example to support passive audience theories, such as the Frankfurt School’s ‘Hypodermic Syringe Theory’. This states that audiences consume and respond to media texts in an unquestioning way, believing what they read, see or hear. This might be true of the audiences of the 1930s, unfamiliar with new media forms like radio, but in the modern age it carries less weight. It is questionable as to how far most of the audience were actually duped by the broadcast. As has been noted, those who ‘bought into’ the idea of an invasion, may well have been influenced by external factors such as the social and political context of the time. It was not impossible to believe that a foreign power was invading American soil in 1938.

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

Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory might offer a more accurate explanation of the audience’s behaviour in response to the radio broadcast since it emphasises the longer-term effects that media texts have upon audiences. Based on his research into television viewing, 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?

Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory is useful when considering how the audience for War of the Worlds interpreted the text (as either fact or fiction). He argues that audiences might read a media text in different ways. 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. Hall also suggests that readings of a media text might be negotiated. This is an acceptance of the preferred reading but modified in a way that reflects the audience’s own position, experiences and interests.

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?



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?

As it is possibly the first ever instance of "fake news" being spread to the media through radio/newspapers. It has since then branched a new path for horror, having similar conventions to the newly coined "analog horror" genre.

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?

In my opinion, I feel that the newspapers exaggerating the audiences reactions is a greater example, as Orwell throughout the radio "play" cut in many times to reassure audiences that this was all a radio play and not actually real.

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?

Personally, I don't. However, using WOTW as an example, this is an instance in history where audiences were more susceptible to believing anything they saw or heard in the media.

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

I feel as if it's made the model less relevant, as due to the digital media age, audiences have become incredibly skilled at determining what is fact and what is fake.

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 theory to an extent. As audiences as a whole aren't really affected by the media that much anymore. Everyone has become desensitised in a way, and aren't moved. However, there are some audiences that take the media INCREDIBLY seriously and let everything affect their mood or beliefs.

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

In this day and age, people have become accustomed to their own beliefs and views, and would do anything to protect them, so I think it's less valid today. 


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? 

It is true that many of the listeners tuning into the radio on night of October 30th, 1938 were scared – some even really believed aliens had landed, even some very extreme reactions: ‘Radio ‘Martian Attack’ Terrorises U.S. Hearers; Attempted Suicides, Heart attacks, Exodus of Residents Reported’, read one headline from the time. ‘Listeners Faint...Pray...Prepare to Flee...’ is another example of the emotive writing the papers churned out in response to the broadcast.

2) How did newspapers present the story? 

Suddenly, the newspapers caught wind of a radio play that seemed to have caused panic and disquiet among its listeners and they used that to support their claim that the radio was all-powerful and, ultimately, dangerous. As the story developed, the papers thrived on stories of citizens wanting to sue the network for damages and also a senator who seized the moment to push for the creation of a radio censorship board. The government even got on board, in the shape of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which ordered an investigation into the broadcaster, CBS, which, five weeks later, ended having found no wrongdoing.

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

Since it came on the scene commercially in the 1920s, many feared radio would kill off the other main media industries at the time. The radio brought news, music and more into people’s homes in an accessible, realistic and direct way; arguably there was no need to go and buy a newspaper or record if you could just switch on your radio. Plus, listeners would get to hear the real voices of the people making the news and access information more quickly than via a newspaper. Scholars have since acknowledged that this competition between the media forms definitely played a part in the speed and ferocity with which the

newspapers attacked TWOTW. 

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

As a relatively new media form, there was still widespread scepticism about radio’s benefits and a lot of concern about its potential downsides. Just like the introduction of newer media today, older generations feared the corruption of the young by uncensored, unregulated radio content. Furthermore, the radio had a part to play in the rise of Adolf Hitler in Europe, and many were worried about how far radio’s influence could stretch.

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

Stuart Hall, developed a theory of ‘reception’ that helps us understand the diverse ways audiences react. He said people make a judgement on any media text based on their experiences and understanding of the world. Applying this to TWOTW, you might argue 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.

Another reason we believe that the media can affect what we do and think is George Gerbner’s ‘cultivation theory’, which says that the media can provoke certain responses from us if it repeats or cultivates a message often enough. To use the example in hand, Gerbner might say that TWOTW has become so legendary precisely thanks to repetition in the media. While cultivation theory may explain why the newspapers’ version of TWOTW hysteria has gone down in the history books, it does not explain why many listeners loved the show enough to write or call into the network singing its praises.

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.