Not everything we see on television now are true, but everything heard on radio seventy years ago were the truths to the audiences. On Sunday, October 30, 1938, a broadcast comparable to today's 9/11 event shocked United States. Orson Welles, the head of the Mercury Group dramatists decided to play with the audiences mind. Adapting from H.G. Welle's well-known novel War of the Worlds he created a play on radio that did not entertain the audiences but scared them.
At 8 p.m. that Sunday millions turned on their radios as it has became a commodity. The broadcast started off with Orson introducing his play but slowly faded into a weather report. The weather report then gradually turned into an orchestra playing. They sounded like they came from different locations but were in fact all done in one studio. This unusual event already had confused the audiences. To add to the confusion, a special announcement came on featuring an newsman, Carl Phillips' interview with a scientist. During the interview, the scientist received a note, and the note was shared publically stating there is an earthquake near Princeton, NJ. Shortly into the interview another special broadcast interrupts announcing a huge object on fire crashing into a farm near Grover's Mill, NJ at approximately 8:50 pm. There was a long music interlude which gave an effect to the audiences of how much time has passed. Shortly after the interlude Carl Phillips arrived at Grover's Mill. Phillips report seeing a gigantic metallic cylinder. He reports along with the event unraveling itself. Phillips decribes the cylinder's top unscrewing itself. He reports a creature crawling out with huge black eyes with long tentacles and wet leather-like skin. Phillips notifies the audience that the strange looking creatures are attacking the town with their advance weapons putting everything on fire. The broadcast was at its climax when the announcer interrupts stating that the militia started its movement against the aliens and the US army is also involved now. The announcer also claimed that New York City has already been evacuated.
After hearing this broadcast many radio listeners were panicking. Most packed up and fled their homes. Others went to church to pray. Ultimately, everyone thought the world is ending, their future filled with uncertainties. Many were calling the radios stations as entropy increases with more people being fustrated.
Hours after the broadcast, the radio program announced that everything was just a play.
Rosenburg, Jennifer. "War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast Causes Panic". About. April 8th, 2008
http://history1900s.about.com/od/1930s/a/warofworlds.htm
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1 comment:
I think that the radio was such a great medium to tell stories through (maybe not to scare people), but it's pretty cool to think how powerful a story being told over the radio was.
Politicians actually have their own opinions about the radio:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9501E0DD1239F932A05750C0A960958260
And I think that it is to a politicians advantage to speak on the radio. Instead of juding a politician on their image/facial expressions (or lack there of any)...the public is forced to listen to their reforms based on words alone.
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