Facts about war of the worlds

• Written by H G Wells
• Published in 1898
• Radio broadcasted in 1938
• Broadcasted in the United States on October 30th
• Adapted as a film in 2005
• Science-fiction genre
• the novel influenced the work of scientists such as Robert H Goddard who invented the liquid fuelled rocket and multistage rocket which were inspired by the novel.
• Was broadcasted by CBS radio (Columbia broadcasting company), this company still exists today

historical, political and cultural context

• Broadcasted the year before world war 2
• One of the earliest novels about a conflict between humankind and an extraterrestrial race
• Radio was one of the largest forms of media used at the time
• Nazi Germany escalated and began its persecution of the jews
• Almost 80% of American households owned a radio
• the Great Depression and the Wall Street crash both happened in the 1930’s
• Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini were all in power in the 1930’s
• The 1930’s to the 1940’s was known as the ‘golden age’ of radio

Is this broadcast an early example of fake news?

The broadcast was set out to mimic a real radio news broadcast however, before the broadcast started there was a disclaimer informing listeners that it was a performance of H G Wells’ war of the worlds novel. Although for people who may have switched radio stations to the broadcast midway through will have been confused and believed that it was a real broadcast. Radio was a relatively new type of media at the time and people were still learning about what its effects were on the public. Many argue that this broadcast was the birth of fake news as it caused panic in some parts of the United States as members of the public were calling their local authorities to ask for confirmation of the news that had heard on the broadcast. However, the panic that the broadcast was believed to have created is also believed to be a myth.