Radio: War of the Worlds CSP (1938)
CSP: War of the Worlds
Read Media Factsheet #176: CSP Radio - War of the Worlds. You'll need your Greenford Google login to download it. Then answer the following questions:
1) What is the history and narrative behind War of the Worlds?
2) When was it first broadcast and what is the popular myth regarding the reaction from the audience?
3) How did the New York Times report the reaction the next day?
4) How did author Brad Schwartz describe the the broadcast and its reaction?
5) Why did Orson Welles use hybrid genres and pastiche and what effect might it have had on the audience?
6) How did world events in 1938 affect the way audiences interpreted the show?
7) Which company broadcast War of the Worlds in 1938?
8) Why might the newspaper industry have deliberately exaggerated the response to the broadcast?
9) Does War of the Worlds provide evidence to support the Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle theory?
10) How might Gerbner's cultivation theory be applied to the broadcast?
11) Applying Hall's Reception Theory, what could be the preferred and oppositional readings of the original broadcast?
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?
1) What is the history and narrative behind War of the Worlds?
2) When was it first broadcast and what is the popular myth regarding the reaction from the audience?
3) How did the New York Times report the reaction the next day?
4) How did author Brad Schwartz describe the the broadcast and its reaction?
5) Why did Orson Welles use hybrid genres and pastiche and what effect might it have had on the audience?
6) How did world events in 1938 affect the way audiences interpreted the show?
7) Which company broadcast War of the Worlds in 1938?
8) Why might the newspaper industry have deliberately exaggerated the response to the broadcast?
9) Does War of the Worlds provide evidence to support the Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle theory?
10) How might Gerbner's cultivation theory be applied to the broadcast?
11) Applying Hall's Reception Theory, what could be the preferred and oppositional readings of the original broadcast?
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?
Media Magazine article on War of the Worlds
Read this article on War of the Worlds in Media Magazine. You can find it in our Media Magazine archive - issue 69, page 10. Answer the following questions:
1) What reasons are provided for why the audience may have been scared by the broadcast in 1938?
2) How did newspapers present the story?
3) How does the article describe the rise of radio?
4) What does the article say about regulation of radio in the 1930s?
5) How does the article apply media theories to the WOTW? Give examples.
6) Look at the box on page 13 of real newspaper headlines. Pick out two and write them here - you could use these in an exam answer.
A/A* Extension tasks: Analysis and opinion questions
1) Why do you think the 1938 broadcast of War of the Worlds has become such a significant moment in media history?
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?
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?
4) Has the digital media age made the Hypodermic Needle model more or less relevant? Why?
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.
6) Is Gerbner's Cultivation theory more or less valid today than it would have been in 1938? Why?
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