War of the Worlds: Blog tasks

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?

War of the Worlds was a science fiction novel written by H.G Wells and was later taken by Orson Welles as a radio play in 1938

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

It was first broadcasted in 1918

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

The New York Times reported the reaction as a widespread panic and caused public fear.

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

'Decades ahead of its time' and the reaction as 'history's first viral-media phenomenon'

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

By mixing a realistic sounding broadcast with a fictional alien invasion in grovers mill, Orson Welles used hybrid genres, New jersey to adapt the novel to a radio show featuring flashes as news was disclosed to build a realistic feeling for the story being told. 

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

There was a threat for Germany.

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?

• Radio was new and was seen as a threat to print news so newspapers tried to get rid of radio news.

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

‘Hypodermic Needle Theory’. This states that audiences consume and respond to media texts in an unquestioning way, believing what they read, see or hear. 

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

Gerbner's cultivation theory Could provide a more precise explanation of the viewers behavior in reaction to radio broadcasting as it highlights the long-term impacts of media texts on audiences.  

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

Halls Reception theory is Considering how the War of the Worlds crowd interpreted the text (as either reality or fiction) is helpful. He claims that there may be distinct methods for viewers to read a media text. The audience's dominant or preferred reading is the one meant by the text's creator.

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?

New media has also enabled an increased capacity to fool audiences as ' false news ' has emerged and media has been able to boost ' clickbait ' style headlines to trick audiences fundamentally unless they read more on the subject.


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?

It became an important component of media history because even then radios were still fairly new because it was only in 1922 that they placed in households and in the 1930s that they began to popularize.

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?

You could claim that this worldwide scare was began by Welles. It was Halloween, he wanted to have some fun with his business, so he created a realistic tale that made individuals afraid.

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?

The digital media era has become more likely to share something based on a title or picture rather than a complete story, both in making it more important and in social media in particular.

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

I mainly agree with Gerbner's cultivation theory as I think that ongoing media exposure to someone has a gradual but substantial impact on the opinions and beliefs of the audience, most frequently seen with ' mean world syndrome, ' with ongoing adverse world representation leading individuals to think that the world is a worse place than it actually is.

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 mainly agree with Gerbner's cultivation theory as I think that ongoing media exposure to someone has a gradual but substantial impact on the opinions and beliefs of the audience, most frequently seen with ' mean world syndrome, ' with ongoing adverse world representation leading individuals to think that the world is a worse place than it actually is.

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

Gerbner's cultivation theory is much more applicable today than it would have been in 1938, as the increase of the digital era over the previous twenty-five years has seen the general public become a media-saturated society with much greater media exposure, enabling theory of agriculture to take impact than what older generations would have experienced, with so much absence of media.