Radio: War of the Worlds CSP (1938)

 War of the Worlds: Blog tasks

Media Factsheet

1.) War of the Worlds was originally a book written by H.G Wells in 1898, being adapted into a radio fictional news outlet by Orwell Welles' in 1938. It contained typical hypertextual references to radio news stations like music and news updates of Martians invading an area within the USA.

2.) When it was first broadcasted it caused a mass hysteria due to listeners truly believing in its stories, building fear of invasion of Martians, technically spreading around false news surrounding invasion. 

3.) The New York Times the very next day after broadcasting had reacted by writing on audience members mass hysteria reaction.

4.) Author Brad Schwartz describes the broadcast and its reaction as describing the mass hysteria being due to its partial truth since the broadcast could possibly be ahead of its time. 

5.) Orson Welles used the convention of a hybrid genre and pastiches in order to effect the audience through the fact that there was already fear due to the war with Germany.

6.) World events effected audience reaction since audiences had already been previously fearful and stressed of invasion due to a previous and upcoming war within their real life society. 

7.) The company that produced the broadcast of War of the Worlds in 1938 was The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) on October 30th.

8.) The newspaper industry had deliberately exaggerated the response to the broadcast in order to drag in a higher amount of attention and readers which would overall earn them more money and audience.

9.) The War of the Worlds broadcast does provide evidence to support the Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle theory since it technically propagates the fake news of a Martian invasion, enforcing ideas of invasion through its documenting of an attach which strikes fear and stress within listeners as though it were a real thing. 

10.) Gerbner's cultivation theory could be applied to the broadcast through its high amount of viewers and how they are swayed to believing in the broadcast in masses. 

11.) Applying Hall's Reception Theory, the preferred and oppositional readings of the original broadcast would be a fictional story for entertainment (preferred) and a real story reporting the news of alien invasion (oppositional). 

12.) Media products do still retain the ability to fool audiences even though a digital era since people are still gullible and vulnerable to manipulation and propaganda despite an apparent rise in education, some are not able to differ fictional from non fictional. 

Media Magazine article on War of the Worlds

1.) One reason that the audience was afraid of the broadcast was because of the war tensions with Germany, the real fear reflected the fictional one into making audience believing that there was an alien invasion. Radio was also seen as a source of information for people meaning they weren't exception fictional "news". 

2.) The newspaper presented the story in an exaggerated way in order to maintain dominance through relevance in the media industry (at the time), making radio look threatening and harmful compared to newspaper. 

3.) The article describes the rise of radio as widespread scepticism due to its lose regulation however it eventually became a part of a usual persons life since it was seen as a good source of information particularly during vulnerable eras like wars. 

 

4.) The article describes the regulation of radio as completely uncensored and unregulated, other older generations afraid that the youth would become harmed by the rawness of the content of the radio. 

5.) The article applies media theories to War of The Worlds through cultivation theory where consumer media is more, being influences by media messages and connotations, exactly like the mass hysteria that the broadcast caused. The Bobo Doll theory is also mentioned since it is proof for how the broadcast affects audiences directly through mimicking and repetition. 

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