War of the Worlds

            The impact of the 1930s radio broadcast “War of the Worlds” narrated by Orson Welles had an interesting effect on the nation. Today, we might think that it’s silly that so many people took a dramatized radio broadcast for the truth, but one must consider the times that these people were living in. The citizens, already going through the Great Depression, steadily increasing unemployment rates, and just a general sense of unease (brought about, in large part, by whisperings of misdeeds from other countries), were that much more susceptible to believing bad news, as all the news they had heard in this decade was generally unpleasant. So when Orson Welles got on the radio and started giving small, enigmatic details about explosions on Mars, people were not going to be hesitant to aim their previously hinted at ominous feelings towards this bizarre occurrence. It seemed especially legitimate to begin with, as someone automatically refutes the claim that there is anything of importance happening on Mars. However, all of the speakers on the radio soon agree with the assessment that aliens are trying to land on the Earth, specifically Grover’s Mill, New Jersey, which then turns into widespread, newspaper-printed panic. It was only at the end of the broadcast, when Orson Welles breaks character to “remind” the listeners that it was a Halloween prank that the citizens realized they had been duped.

            The aftermath of this broadcast was fascinating, and actually played a huge role in shaping the nation’s view on news reporting after that. After the broadcast and the public’s rage when everyone realize that they had been tricked, radio stations were required to explicitly let people know when there is a fake broadcast occurring. Even this did not comfort paranoid viewers, and some people say that many thought the Pearl Harbor bombings were fake, as they listened to the initial broadcast. War of the Worlds taught the American population to question information that is being fed to them, even if they believe it comes from a reliable source. It bred a generation of skeptics who did not blindly accept whatever the radio stations were telling them about the topics they were passionate about. War of the World also, I believe, helped to make the television medium far more successful than it might have been. People were easily tricked when it came to radio because all one could do was listen. If the station had lifelike special effects, or even just a dedicated team, it was easy to make people think events were taking place when in reality they were not. With the television, people assumed it would be much harder to fake visual proof. That is not the case now, but back when TVs first came out, it was very much the scenario.

            Overall, the people of the nation who fell for the broadcast were irrevocably changed afterwards. Radio went from a reliable source of information to a medium that had to be second guessed. Because of this event, people would go on to treat real life crises flippantly, not believing them to be true until there was visual evidence to corroborate the story. War of the Worlds was fascinating because the station provided just enough evidence to convince a nation that aliens had landed – an impressive feat considering the reluctant nature of humanity to accept sudden life-changing affirmations. In the end, the people naively believed Welles, and were consequently very bitter about this decision for the next decade.