2011-10-31 05:59:06
By Professor W Joseph Campbell American University, Washington DC
Mass panic and hysteria swept the United States on the eve of Halloween in
1938, when an all-too-realistic radio dramatisation of The War of the Worlds
sent untold thousands of people into the streets or heading for the hills.
The radio show was so terrifying in its accounts of invading Martians wielding
deadly heat-rays that it is remembered like no other radio programme.
Or, more accurately, it is misremembered like no other radio programme.
Radio unreality
The panic and terror so routinely associated with The War of the Worlds
dramatisation did not come close to a nationwide dimension that night 73 years
ago.
Sure, some Americans were frightened or disturbed by what they heard. But most
listeners, overwhelmingly, were not. They recognised it for what it was - a
clever and entertaining radio play.
The War of the Worlds dramatisation was the inspiration of Orson Welles,
director and star of the Mercury Theatre on the Air, an hour-long programme
that aired on Sunday evenings on CBS Radio.
Welles was 23 years old, a prodigy destined for lasting fame as director and
star of the 1941 motion picture, Citizen Kane.
His adaptation of The War of the Worlds, a science fiction thriller written by
HG Wells and published in 1898, was little short of brilliant.
A radio broadcast of 'The War Of The Worlds' in 1952 Further radio
dramatisations of War of the Worlds spread, including this British production
in 1952
What made the show so compelling was the use of simulated on-the-scene radio
reports telling of the first landing of Martian invaders near Princeton, New
Jersey, and their swift and deadly advance to New York City.
American audiences had become accustomed to news reports interrupting radio
programmes. They had heard them often during the war scare in Europe in late
summer and early autumn of 1938.
Welles played on this familiarity to stunning effect. In doing so, he created a
delicious and tenacious media myth.
Newspaper headlines across America told of the terror that Welles' show
supposedly created.
"Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as Fact," declared the New York
Times. "Radio Fake Scares Nation," cried the Chicago Herald and Examiner. "US
Terrorized By Radio's 'Men From Mars,'" said the San Francisco Chronicle.
Exaggerated effect
Yet we know from several sources that the reports of thousands of
panic-stricken Americans were wildly exaggerated.
Hadley Cantril, a Princeton University psychologist, estimated that six million
people listened to The War of the Worlds dramatisation. Of that number, perhaps
1.2 million listeners were "frightened" or "disturbed" by what they heard, Mr
Cantril figured.
Continue reading the main story
Start Quote
For newspapers, the so-called "panic broadcast" brought newspapers an
exceptional opportunity to censure radio
"Frightened" and "disturbed," of course, are hardly synonymous with
"panic-stricken." Overall, Mr Cantril's data signal that most listeners, by
far, were not upset by the show.
Close reading of contemporaneous newspaper reports also reveals the fright that
night was highly exaggerated.
Newspapers presented sweeping claims about thousands or even millions of
panic-stricken Americans, but offered little supporting documentation.
Most newspapers printed dispatches sent by wire services such as the Associated
Press, which extrapolated widespread fear from small numbers of scattered,
anecdotal accounts.
Newspapers, moreover, reported no deaths or serious injuries related to The War
of the Worlds broadcast: had panic and hysteria seized America that night, the
mayhem surely would have caused many deaths and injuries.
For newspapers, the so-called "panic broadcast" brought newspapers an
exceptional opportunity to censure radio, a still-new medium that was becoming
a serious competitor in providing news and advertising.
Newspaper leader columns in the days immediately after the broadcast helped
deepen the impression that Welles' programme had sown hysteria.
"Radio is new but it has adult responsibilities," chided the New York Times.
"It has not mastered itself or the material it uses."
Despite its wobbly basis, the myth of mass panic remains steadfastly attached
to The War of the Worlds programme. It is part of the lore of Orson Welles, the
bad-boy genius who did his best work before he turned 30.
And it's a tale just too delectable not to be true.
W Joseph Campbell is a professor at American University in Washington, DC. He
wrote about the myth of The War of the Worlds programme in his latest book,
Getting It Wrong. He often writes about media myths at his blog, Media Myth
Alert.