“War of the Worlds” anniversary a timeless reminder of fact vs. fiction

“War of the Worlds” anniversary a timeless reminder of fact vs. fiction
October 30th, 1938 23-year-old Welles took to the airwaves for an hour to describe a martian invasion in such detail that it caused nationwide hysteria.



By WABI News Desk
BANGOR, Maine (WABI) -

This Halloween-Eve marks 85 years since Orson Welles scared millions with his radio drama “War of the Worlds.”

Or did he?

October 30th, 1938 23-year-old Welles took to the airwaves for an hour to describe a martian invasion in such detail that it caused nationwide hysteria.

At least that’s what newspaper headlines read the next day.

But scholars Michael Socolow of UMaine and Jefferson Pooley say the reports of mass hysteria reported following the broadcast were greatly exaggerated.

They say according to a national radio survey that night most people were listening to a much more popular program or nothing at all.

And the streets that were filled with panicked listeners were actually the opposite -- quiet and deserted.

Socolow says newspapers sensationalized the panic in an attempt to discredit radio and win over advertisers.

However, he says these facts don’t take away from the historic effect the broadcast still holds today.

In the 1930s radio was the new and exciting way to get your news and today that’s social media.

And just like that Halloween-Eve, we should remain skeptical of what we are reading in the media.

Soclow added, “We should apply media literacy and think about things critically. That was important in 1938 when people thought this mass of crowds were in the streets but it’s really important today. It’s more important when you think about the way social sharing works through social media. Media literacy really matters. Think critically and skeptically about the information you consume."

In 1983 there was a tv movie called 'Special Bulletin' which mimicked War of the Worlds but the story was about nuclear terrorism. We were watching it when a buddy came in, looked at it and said "What? Is this real? Is this going on right now?"

We were all totally shitfaced so we started leading him on... "Yeah man like these dudes have a nuke and are gonna set it off... I'm serious man, this is really happening..." and he got all panicked and started freaking out and packing his suitcase saying he was going to hide in the mountains...

He actually threw a bunch of stuff in his car and drove off yelling at us to run for our lives... soon as he was gone we started laughing our asses off... he came back in about a half hour pissed as hell when he figured it out