• The episode is famous for inciting a panic by convincing some members of the listening audience that a Martian invasion was taking place, though the scale of panic is disputed, as the program had relatively few listeners.
• “The War of the Worlds” was the 17th episode of the CBS Radio series The Mercury Theatre on the Air, which was broadcast at 8 pm ET on October 30, 1938
• The program’s format is a simulated live newscast of developing events. The first two-thirds of the hour-long play is a contemporary retelling of events of the novel, presented as news bulletins interrupting programs of dance music.
• “I had conceived the idea of doing a radio broadcast in such a manner that a crisis would actually seem to be happening,” said Welles, “and would be broadcast in such a dramatized form as to appear to be a real event taking place at that time, rather than a mere radio play.
• The radio program begins as a simulation of a normal evening radio broadcast featuring a weather report and music by “Ramon Raquello and His Orchestra” live from a local hotel ballroom
• Radio silence at 30:47

War of the Worlds can be considered in a historical context as it provides an interesting study of the power and influence of radio as a form during its early days of broadcasting. It is also useful to consider the product in a social, cultural and political context when considering audience responses to the programme. It was first broadcast on the eve of World War II and reflected fears of invasion in the US and concerns about international relations.

• The episode is famous for inciting a panic by convincing some members of the listening audience that a Martian invasion was taking place, though the scale of panic is disputed, as the program had relatively few listeners.
• “The War of the Worlds” was the 17th episode of the CBS Radio series The Mercury Theatre on the Air, which was broadcast at 8 pm ET on October 30, 1938
• The program’s format is a simulated live newscast of developing events. The first two-thirds of the hour-long play is a contemporary retelling of events of the novel, presented as news bulletins interrupting programs of dance music.
• “I had conceived the idea of doing a radio broadcast in such a manner that a crisis would actually seem to be happening,” said Welles, “and would be broadcast in such a dramatized form as to appear to be a real event taking place at that time, rather than a mere radio play.
• The radio program begins as a simulation of a normal evening radio broadcast featuring a weather report and music by “Ramon Raquello and His Orchestra” live from a local hotel ballroom.
• 30:47 radio silence (BAD)
• After the conclusion of the play, Welles reassumed his role as host and told listeners that the broadcast was intended to be merely a “holiday offering”, the equivalent of the Mercury Theater “dressing up in a sheet, jumping out of a bush and saying, ‘Boo!'”
• The rapid expansion of radio in the 1930s into the homes of millions of Americans was a huge threat to the once dominant position of newspapers
• we need to consider the historical and social context behind the broadcast. In terms of Stuart Hall’s reception theory and his encoding / decoding model of communication, this is the audience’s framework of knowledge.

Facts:

War of the Worlds is a drama, and it uses the codes and conventions of a news broadcast in order to make a made up explosion and invasion of aliens seem like a real world issue and crisis.

‘War Of The Worlds’ was a live broadcast which broadcasted on Columbia broadcasting systems (CBS) on October 30th 1938 8-9pm

Arguments

it was presented within the format of normal evening of radio programming – Can leave to confusion

There appears to be a routine report from the “Government Weather Bureau” about a “slight atmospheric disturbance” along the east coast of America. He presents the information in a way which would be believable at first listening, but when you start to really think about it and do research, you realise its not true. We are then “entertained by the music of Ramón Raquello and his orchestra”, another fictional character, who are playing a tango from the Park Plaza Hotel. Even the “special bulletin from the Intercontinental Radio News”, which interrupts the music, met the expectations of the contemporary audience.

the writers were warned against using the original names by the legal department at Columbia Broadcasting Company because they were worried about the threat of litigation. These changes are very subtle so most listeners would not be able to spot the difference. This blurring of boundaries between fact and fiction could be one of the reasons why members of audience believed aliens were attempting to destroy the human race.

Theorists:

The hypodermic needle theory suggests a media text can have a powerful and immediate effect on the passive audience. It would seem “The War of the Worlds” production supports this argument because so many terrified listeners, for example, “rushed out of their houses” to escape the “gas raid”.

Essay Questions:

1. Explain how Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds broadcast used the codes and conventions of radio to convince the audience Martians were invading New York.
2. How do the cultural and historical circumstances affect the audience’s interpretation of media texts? Refer to the Close Study Product War of the Worlds in your answer.
3. Discuss how and why audiences might respond to and interpret media texts differently depending on the social context they are consumed. Refer to the Close Study Product War of the Worlds in your answer.
4. “There is no doubt the media has a profound influence on the audience’s thoughts and behaviour.” To what extent does your analysis of the Close Study Product War of the Worlds support this view?
   
   Uses news bulletins to make viewers believe its real (Mention time)
   
   1. Talk about history and what people were like at time of creation and social contexts.
   2. Reference the pay
   3. Theorists
   4. Talk about audiences and how they react to the news station

The War of the Worlds

https://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675022243_George-Orson-Welles_War-of-the-Worlds_future-broadcasts_journalists-interviewing

• well acted
• well written
• appealing scenery
• good build up to the major events
• interesting plot
• more than one genre, drama, comedy romance – Steve Neale
• showcases the social and cultural contexts – Stuart Hall

broadcasting- communicating with a large number of people

narrowcasting- for a niche target audience

what is the ethos of the BBC?

“To inform entertain and educate” which was developed lord Reith

BBC charter

what is the distinction between populism and paternalism?

Populism what the audience want to watch and consume

Paternalism is action that limits a person’s or group’s liberty or autonomy and is intended to promote their own good.

The argument of opening up ‘new worlds’ to everyday (= common? poor? working class? uneducated???) people could be applied to new media platforms – so what is the difference?

could it be argued that the BBC are saying that by broadcasting to the working class can be bragging that they re smarter than who they were now broadcasting to

Grace Wyndham-Goldie changing nature of modern communication, essentially by transforming time and space. her editor told her not to go to see this and that television would not be important in her lifetime, but she disagreed and believed that it was important, you can see and hear people in another space. this links to Habermas and the transformation of the public sphere.

there was a fear of new technology

the BBC was acting like a social cement as it connected us all together

Habermas and the transformation of the public sphere-

• allows people to connect to other places around the world and hear and see things which are happening outside of where you are from where you are – transforming time and space
• allows for people who have never experienced certain events be included and allow for more discussion from different groups of people such as the working class

Seaton-

• “Broadcasting in Britain – monopoly or duopoly- always depended on assumption of commitment to an undivided good” p342
• “Reaching all parts of the country regardless of cost, seeking to educate inform and improve” p343
• “The goal that the British broadcasting should move towards a sophisticated market system based on consumer sovereignty” p343
• ” The questions which the public asked about broadcasting… were becoming ‘more critical, more hostile and more political” p346
• “Broadcasters have come to see the state as their enemy” p353
• “Thus, without a commitment to public service, broadcasters are increasingly vulnerable to detailed political interference in the content of programmes” p353

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How do the cultural and historical circumstances affect the audience’s interpretation of media texts? Refer to the Close Study Product War of the Worlds in your answer

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Viewer Reception