Radio Final Index

Radio Final Index

1. Introduction to Radio: blog tasks

2. BBC Radio 1 - Life Hacks: Blog tasks

3. War of the Worlds

War of the Worlds: Blog tasks

War of the Worlds: Blog tasks

Media Factsheet #176

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 extraterrestrial 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.

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

It was broadcasted on the 30th of October 1938 to get the Halloween enthusiasm popping.

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 they report the hoax as a real life issue. 

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

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. But it’s even more important to understand how the press magnified 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. Our news media still have a penchant for making us fear the wrong things, of inflating certain stories into false Armageddons, as they did with War of the Worlds.”

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

- 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.
- 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.

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

Understanding the social context, including the issues and concerns of late 1930s America, helps to explain why the audience may have responded to the text as if it were real.

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

CBS

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

The newspaper companies had competition with the radio and them creating a bad image for radio would potentially increase the amount of audience they get as the more people that read about the article or hear of the article, the more people are likely to begin to not rely on radio but newspapers for their facts.  

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

The hypodermic needle theory suggests that what is being shown on the media is 'injected' into people as they believe everything that is being said or told and their lives almost revolve around the information given from there. This is more applicable in the 1930's compared to now as people weren't that familiar with media platforms then and didn't know how they could be manipulated and didn't question what they saw or heard in the media before believing it. 

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

The cultivation theory suggests that repeated exposure to the media continuously over time can manipulate audiences perception of reality. This links to the War of the Worlds broadcast as audiences chose to believe what they were being told over the radio in-between other broadcasts even though it didn't sound realistic. 

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

The preferred reading was for it to just be hoax to prank their audience as a joke for Halloween.
The oppositional reading is that other media platforms such as the newspaper exaggerated what had happened and creating a bad brand image for the radio broadcasters.  

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?

It was easier for people to get fooled back in the 1930's as they didn't have many media platforms and they were so sure everything that was shown or said on the media was true. Whereas, in today's generation there are so many different platforms and people are also more cautious about what they believe as there is a lot of false information in the media these days.

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 showed how manipulated audiences were by the media and how much they relied on it for their news that they blindly believed everything that was being said without even thinking if it's true or false. 

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?

What was said in the newspaper was more 'fake news' then the radio as although they were talking about something that happened, they over-exaggerated it so much to make themselves seem better and it gives audience the suggestion that they exaggerate everything that they write about. 

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 the Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle Theory as it gives a better explanation as to why people are so manipulated by the media and believe everything being said or shown especially a few years before when they relied on a few media platforms for all their news and information.  

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

It has made it less relevant as people have plenty of media platforms to go to and they know if something is true, they'd see or hear of it from several different platforms rather than just one. They're also more wary therefore they don't believe everything straight away, if something doesn't sound believable they stop and question it rather than just going with what is said in the media.

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 as over the years people have become so reliant on the media for their news rather than believing what people tell them in real life. An example could even be the War of the Worlds hoax which people just decided to believe as they were so used to believing everything that was being said in the radio that when something false was being told they couldn't even identify it. 

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

It would be less valid today but I believe that it is still more valid than the hypodermic needle theory as even if audience aren't quick to fall for what is being said on radio or TV, they put their trust in things being said and shown on social media by social media influencers or they see models online and on magazines and believe that these people really looking like that in real life and put pressure on themselves to try and be like that.