On the evening of October 30, 1938, Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre on the Air delivered a radio broadcast that would become one of the most infamous in history. Their adaptation of H.G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds” was designed as a series of realistic news bulletins, describing a Martian invasion in New Jersey. It was a bold experiment in storytelling, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.
Listeners tuning in late missed the announcement that it was a dramatization, leading to widespread confusion. Some believed they were hearing real news reports of an alien attack. This wasn’t just a case of people being gullible; it was a time when radio was a primary source of news and information, and tensions were high with the looming threat of war in Europe.
It was estimated that about 25% of the six million listeners thought the broadcast was real. However, many didn’t believe it was Martians—they thought it might be a German attack, reflecting the anxieties of the time. The recent Munich Crisis had people on edge, and radio had become a trusted medium for breaking news.
In the days following the broadcast, newspapers seized on the story, some accusing Welles and CBS of irresponsibility. There were claims of mass panic and hysteria, though later research suggests these reports were exaggerated.
The Power of Radio: How the Rockefeller Foundation Explored Media Influence
The broadcast was part of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Princeton Radio Research Project set up to understand the influence of radio on society. This effort was part of a broader interest in exploring how emerging communication technologies could shape public opinion and behavior.
Radio was rapidly becoming a dominant medium in American households. With its ability to reach millions simultaneously, it held immense potential to ‘educate’, ‘inform’, and ‘entertain’. However, this power also raised questions about its capacity to influence public perception and decision-making. This initiative aimed to investigate who was listening to radio broadcasts, what they were listening to, and how these broadcasts affected them. The goal was to understand radio’s potential as both an educational tool and a commercial enterprise.
