War Of the Worlds:

Hypodermic Needle Theory:
It would seem “The War of the Worlds” production supports the needle theory because so many terrified listeners, for example, “rushed out of their houses” to escape the “gas raid”. This is a direct Indication to how the producers wanted the viewers to react, encompassing Stuart Halls encoding and decoding theory between producers and audiences, where the producer intended for the viewers to be scared, frightened and react drastically.

Gerbners theory of cultivation:
Gerbners theory suggests that people with heavy listening/watching of media are susceptible to its messages.
One army veteran said the radio play “was too realistic for comfort” while another New York resident was “convinced it was the McCoy” when the “names and titles” of different officials, such as the Secretary of the Interior, were mentioned in the script. Both these quotes came from interviews after the Radio show was broadcasted.

Lazarfelds 2 step flow of communication:
A “throng of playgoers had rushed” from a “theatre” because “news” of the invasion had “spread” to the audience. This was reported by “The New York Times” from a manager of the new York theatre. Therefore, not everyone who was terrorised by the radio play was actually listening to the broadcast. They heard the rumours from people they trusted in their social circle.

Stuart Hall, Encoding and decoding:
The audiences knowledge is to blame for the “Panic”, firstly, the show was aired by Columbia Broadcasting Systems (CBS) – one of only two national broadcasters who were trusted by millions of listeners every day to deliver reliable and impartial news. Secondly, since radio was a relatively new form of mass communication, it could also be argued that many listeners lacked the media literacy needed to understand “The War of the Worlds” was a pastiche of its codes and conventions. None of this is the fault of the producers.

Newsbeat:

Post-modern New Media: