The "War of the Worlds" broadcast caused mass panic among Americans. Truth or myth? What do we know about Orson Welles' most famous radio play?
The history of the world is full of distortions and understatements. Sometimes things considered facts have little to do with reality. On the other hand, events that seem too eerie to be true turn out to be the most real. In the "Truth or Myth" series, we will attempt to debunk or confirm both these less and more serious historical myths. The story is not as obvious as it seems!
"We now know that in the early years of the 20th century this world was closely watched by intelligences greater than human," broadcast CBS on October 30, 1938 year. The broadcast, which was listened to by over 12 million people, caused a mass panic . Tens of thousands of Americans hurriedly left their homes and tried to flee for fear of the invaders from Mars . Hundreds have been injured in the ensuing confusion. There were even suicides. And all this because of the radio drama, which was broadcast on the eve of the war, led to a tragedy. The history of this broadcast is one of the most enduring examples of the power of the media. Real? Not necessarily.
"I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary"
These words were spoken by Orson Welles at a press conference shortly after the broadcast of his broadcast. When asked by journalists if he was aware of the panic it would cause, he replied that ... he didn't even do anything new.
The plot of the radio play is an adaptation of the novel by H.G. Wells from the end of the 19th century with the same title. The radio version replicated the topography of New York City. The original script did it in enough detail that the station forced Welles to make some changes. Eventually, fearing too much realism, the names of actual places and institutions were replaced with non-existent ones.
Orson Welles at the CBS studio
The nearly hour-long show was divided into two parts:simulated reports and news, followed by a classic staging. 12 voices were used for the production, including Welles himself, as well as sound effects and music, which were to build the war atmosphere. This format was not popular at the time, but its authorship cannot be attributed to the creator of the broadcast. Ronald Knox used a similar procedure for the first time in "Broadcasting the Barricades", which was broadcast by the BBC in 1926.
What are Americans listening to?
One of the more frequently cited arguments against the story of Welles' radio play is its audienceability . Among the descriptions in the press, there are voices of up to 12 million Americans who gathered at the receivers followed the account of the Martian attack. How many of them panicked into the streets? The most cautious reports mention tens of thousands. According to the boldest ones - it could even be a million.
Modern sociologists and historians, especially Robert Bartholomew, agree that all these numbers are greatly exaggerated. The American company CE Hooper on the night of the broadcast's premiere conducted a statistical survey on a group of 5,000 recipients. They received a phone call asking "What are you currently listening to?" As it turned out, among these people only 2% mentioned the title of Welles' program . Meanwhile, these 12 million are more than 1/3 of the American radio audience at the time.
The plot of the radio play is an adaptation of the novel by H.G. Wells from the end of the 19th century with the same title.
However, is such a research attempt reliable? Those who did panic wouldn't pick up the phone right now. Well, even in that case, one more thing remains. Unfortunately for Welles (though maybe better for the tarnished nerves of Americans) his radio play coincided with the broadcast of the beloved ventriloquist Edgar Bergen . The comedy show broke popularity records at the time.
Between the old and the new medium
The relationship between the radio and newspapers, to put it mildly, was not the warmest. The conflict began in earnest in 1933. After the initial enthusiasm of press journalists for the new medium, there was a time of reluctance, slander and mutual piling up of legal problems. Why?
The answer is simple. All through radio news. Newsrooms, which in the original vision of the press were supposed to be advertisements for daily newspapers, turned out to be ... a formidable competition. Even the most widely read titles recorded significant drops in sales at that time. Receiver owners (half the American urban population and 30% of the rural population in the 1930s) simply found out about the latest news before the daily newspaper came out.
photo:Acme Telephoto / public domain An attempt at the radio adaptation of "Wars of the Worlds"
Over the next few years there was a legal and information battle, primarily between CBS and the Associated Press . The main goal was to reduce the airtime devoted to information blocks. With time, the situation grew so hotter that mediation was needed. In 1933, newspaper publishers and radio directors met at the Hotel Biltmore to reach an agreement. Under it, stations could broadcast the news at 9.30am and 9pm for five minutes. The length of the news item could not exceed 30 words, and the information block was to end with an advertisement for a daily newspaper.
The provisions of the settlement remained purely formal - radio stations, in particular private ones, did not intend to comply with them. About 450 channels did not accept the agreement at all while the others simply passed the news via commentators. Moreover, after the settlement in Biltmore, the news agency Transradio Press Service was established, which also had a negative impact on the press.
Careless journalists lead to a tragedy?
The American war between the press and radio is not without significance here. The newspaper editors immediately pounced on Orson Welles and CBS. In particular, the Associated Press titles, followed by nearly all of the others. More than 12,000 press releases about panic appeared within a few days of the premiere caused by the radio drama. Flashy newspaper headlines reported defrauded Americans and Dante's scenes happening in the streets. Participants at press conferences asked the radio editorial office about hundreds of injured and suicidal deaths caused by the mass panic.
photo The Express / public domain Orson Welles during a conversation with journalists after the "War of the Worlds" broadcast
Such information disappeared as quickly as it appeared. The newspapers did not return to the topic they had posted on the front pages a few days earlier. This is quite surprising - for an event of this scale, the information lifecycle should be much longer. After the wave of campaigns on the station there were no reports of lawsuits, reports from hospitals or planned changes in the organization of road traffic
Radio journalists from CBS and the New York Daily News, both immediately after the broadcast and years later, recalled that there was no sign of panicked crowds on the streets of New York . Media historians Jefferson Pooley and Michael Socolow are of the same opinion.
What is known for sure?
First of all, it cannot be said that Orson Welles' War of the Worlds did not produce any reaction. On the contrary, local newsrooms and police stations received a huge number of phone calls asking about the invasion. It is estimated that that day officers and journalists received about 40% more calls due to the radio drama . There were times when some Americans left the city out of fear.
Newspaper publishers accused the station of fraud and urged the Federal Communications Commission to take legal action against CBS. Officials did not take any steps in this direction, considering that it would be unfounded.
The Federal Communications Commission received approximately 600 broadcast letters . In conjunction with those sent to the editorial office, nearly 2,000 messages were archived. About 27% of them come from scared listeners or witnesses to panic acts . They show that the radio play actually misled some of the audience, but the cases of leaving the apartments were marginal. The sheer number of letters is also not impressive compared to other controversial media projects of the time.
In turn, according to the Radio Project research less than a third of terrified listeners understood that the broadcast was about the attack of the Martians . Most thought it was about a natural disaster or ... the German invasion . Which, in the face of the specter of war hanging over the world, was especially terrifying.
Did Orson Welles' War of the Worlds trigger panic? Yes and no
The broadcast misled the audience, but the descriptions of the reaction are greatly exaggerated.
Sources:
- Chilton M., The War of the Worlds panic was a myth [in:] "The Telegraph" 04/15/2016.
- Letters from Paul Morton and JV Naukey to the Federal Communications Commission [in:] lettersofnote.com [accessed:1.03.2022].
- Lott G., The Press-Radio War of the 1930s. [in:] "Journal of Broadcasting" March 14, 1970.
- Pooley J., Socolow M., The Myth of the War of the Worlds Panic [in:] slate.com [accessed on March 1, 2022].
- Schwartz, A. B., Broadcast Hysteria:Orson Welles's War of the Worlds and the Art of Fake News , New York 2015.
- 'The War of the Worlds' radio script from October 30, 1938 [in:] wellenet.com [accessed on March 1, 2022].