The Myth of the War of the Worlds Panic

[ChrisSmolinski]

Orson Welles’ infamous 1938 radio program did not touch off nationwide hysteria. Why does the legend persist?

...

How did the story of panicked listeners begin? Blame America’s newspapers. Radio had siphoned off advertising revenue from print during the Depression, badly damaging the newspaper industry. So the papers seized the opportunity presented by Welles’ program to discredit radio as a source of news. The newspaper industry sensationalized the panic to prove to advertisers, and regulators, that radio management was irresponsible and not to be trusted. In an editorial titled “Terror by Radio,” the New York Times reproached “radio officials” for approving the interweaving of “blood-curdling fiction” with news flashes “offered in exactly the manner that real news would have been given.” Warned Editor and Publisher, the newspaper industry’s trade journal, “The nation as a whole continues to face the danger of incomplete, misunderstood news over a medium which has yet to prove ... that it is competent to perform the news job.”

...

Far fewer people heard the broadcast—and fewer still panicked—than most people believe today. How do we know? The night the program aired, the C.E. Hooper ratings service telephoned 5,000 households for its national ratings survey. “To what program are you listening?” the service asked respondents. Only 2 percent answered a radio “play” or “the Orson Welles program,” or something similar indicating CBS. None said a “news broadcast,” according to a summary published in Broadcasting. In other words, 98 percent of those surveyed were listening to something else, or nothing at all, on Oct. 30, 1938. This miniscule rating is not surprising. Welles’ program was scheduled against one of the most popular national programs at the time—ventriloquist Edgar Bergen’s Chase and Sanborn Hour, a comedy-variety show.

...

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/history/2013/10/orson_welles_war_of_the_worlds_panic_myth_the_infamous_radio_broadcast_did.single.html

[RCCI]

Interesting information Chris....thanks for sharing.

[clobdell]

My dad was 23 at the time and he said there was no panic in his neighborhood, everyone knew it wasn't real.

[Andrew Yoder]

Really good stuff. I've seen lots of newspaper accounts about the "mass hysteria" and "the thousands of complaints" that were mailed to the FCC. All of these articles seemed to be from the major syndicates. Too bad no one (or at least very few reporters) wrote about what happened in their town. I guess the possibility of a hoax with no one fooled wasn't exactly considered newsworthy.

[BDM]

My dad was 23 at the time and he said there was no panic in his neighborhood, everyone knew it wasn't real.

Same here. My grandfather (31 y.o. at the time) happened to hear the broadcast and knew it wasn't real. In fact he said he thought it was a stupid silly show, and turned it off within 15 minutes. He was also no Wells fan

[skeezix]

were listening to something else, or nothing at all, on Oct. 30, 1938

However, if they all were listening on DAB.... 

[Fansome]

Brings to mind a broadcast that KIPM did years ago, about alien signals being received at the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico, followed by an invasion. Apparently a number of SWLs and hams heard it, and were sufficiently disturbed  that they called into Art Bell's show to discuss it.

I would bet that someone has a recording of that show. It would be interesting to listen to it again.

[jFarley]

Here...

http://radionewyorkinternational.com/archives/index.php?path=pirate%2Fkipm/

[Zoidberg]

According to one of my favorite Radiolab episodes, and confirmed by other sources, the 1949 adaptation of War of the Worlds broadcast in Quito, Ecuador, really did provoke the type of mayhem claimed for the original broadcast, including at least seven deaths and other serious injuries - mostly attributed to retaliation by an angry mob after they realized it was a hoax.   

[SingleSideburn]

WHAAAAAAT???

What do you mean it was a hoax??

I SAW THEM.

I heard the blood-curdling screams.

I saw the space ships.

I smelled the fuel burning.

IT'S LIKE IT HAPPENED YESTERDAY!

IT'S LIKE IT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!!

DON'T TELL ME IT'S NOT REAL WHEN I CAN SEE IT,

RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY FACE!!! J.O.

[RCCI]

The story also reminds me of growing up in Kalamazoo Michigan and a local station WKLZ in the 60's had a contest to win a car.

The keys to the new car was buried somewhere in the Kalamazoo area, and each week there was a new cryptic clue message as to where they were buried. After about the 6th week, the City fathers of Kalamazoo were not happy as residents diug holes everywhere in the city, in parks, elementary schools, trying to find the keys. They wre finally found buried near a swing set in a park. Needless to say a contest like that was never done again! It sure demonstrated the power of Radio...Too funny.

[ka1iic]

I suspect everyone has heard 'War of the Worlds' but here's a link to it anyways:

https://archive.org/details/OrsonWellesMrBruns

73
vince
ka1iic
btw you can down load it from this site if U like ;-)