war of the world

• Orson Welles' adaptation of "The War of the Worlds"

  A terrific introduction to the debate surrounding the media's ability to influence the audience and shape our behaviour and beliefs
• The radio drama depicted a Martian invasion of earth, but the broadcast allegedly provoked widespread panic because many listeners thought the attack was real
• Did the programme trick the audience into fearing for their lives

  Or was their reaction exaggerated by newspapers who tried to gain profit after falling sales due to the rise of radio.
• The War of the Worlds

  Mixes science fiction tropes with the conventions of radio broadcasts to create a very entertaining narrative
• The War of the Worlds

  • Combining science fiction and radio broadcast elements into a hybrid radio form was a great innovation
  • It may have duped some listeners into believing the news bulletins and reports were a true account of the Martian conquest
• Presentation of the story

  • It was presented within the format of normal evening of radio programming
  • There appears to be a routine report from the "Government Weather Bureau" and the "music of Ramón Raquello and his orchestra"
  • The "special bulletin from the Intercontinental Radio News" interrupts the music
• The writers were trying to make the story sound plausible by incorporating basic radio codes into the start of the script
• The writers altered the original 1898 novel to 1930s America "to make the play more acceptable to American listeners"
• Altering of reality

  Typical of Jean Baudrillard's second phase of simulation because the signs are not faithful copies of the original
• The New York Times reported "a wave of mass hysteria seized thousands of radio listeners" with some adults requiring "medical treatment for shock and hysteria"
• The Daily News in New York went with the headline "Fake Radio 'War' stirs terror through U.S."
• During a press conference, one reporter suggested the broadcast created "terror throughout the nation"
• Hypodermic needle theory


  Suggests a media text can have a powerful and immediate effect on the passive audience
• Radio as an intimate medium


  Presenters seem to talk to us directly in our living rooms and other private spaces, which could explain the tremendous impact of "The War of the Worlds"
• Cultivation theory


  Gerbner's research suggested heavy users of television become more susceptible to its messages, especially if the texts resonate with the viewer
• An army veteran said the radio play "was too realistic for comfort" while another New York resident was "convinced it was the McCoy" when the "names and titles" of different officials were mentioned in the script
• Two-step flow model of communication


  Not everyone who was terrorised by the radio play was actually listening to the broadcast. They heard the rumours from people they trusted in their social circle
• At the very beginning of the broadcast, several signposts designated the programme as a work of fiction
• There were two warnings at the intermission saying it was an "original dramatization" and a "performance"
• At the very end, Orson Welles speaks "out of character" and "assures" the audience that the broadcast had no more significance than a child "dressing up in a sheet" at Halloween
• Orson Welles' preferred reading of the text

  It's supposed to show the corrupt condition and decadent state of affairs in democracy
• "The War of the Worlds" was aired by Columbia Broadcasting Systems (CBS) – one of only two national broadcasters who were trusted by millions of listeners every day to deliver reliable and impartial news
• In the weeks prior to "The War of the Worlds" episode, the network reported on Hitler's continued occupation Czechoslovakia and the inevitability of another global conflict
• Welles exploited the audience's fear of a foreign power and their weapons of mass destruction
• Since radio was a relatively new form of mass communication, it could also be argued that many listeners lacked the media literacy needed to understand "The War of the Worlds" was a pastiche of its codes and conventions
• Moral panic


  Did thousands of listeners really believe Martians had landed in New Jersey wanting to conquer the world? Or was the scale of the panic exaggerated by the newspapers because they wanted to defend their market share?
• The rapid expansion of radio in the 1930s into the homes of millions of Americans was a huge threat to the once dominant position of newspapers
• By sensationalising the reaction to "The War of the Worlds", newspapers were drawing attention to the dangers this new media posed to the harmony of American society and calling for greater regulation of the industry
• The New York Times reported that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had been "informed of the furore" and that they "might review the broadcast" because "public interest seems to warrant official action"