War of the Worlds

War of the Worlds

By Daniel Recio

Radio Broadcast of Fictional 'War of the Worlds' Mistaken for Reality

A live performance of the classic H.G. Wells novel “War of the Worlds” caused a panic across the city of New York. The broadcast aired at 8 p.m. October 30th, 1938 on the radio show “Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre” on WABC through the Columbia Broadcasting System.

The reading of the classic science fiction novel left many New Yorkers in hysteria and shock, some needing medical treatment because of it. Some families went as far as to flee their homes or barricade themselves in their homes.

The broadcast was introduced by Welles as a dramatic reading of a fictional story, but for those tuning in late the sounds of the news bulletins appeared all too real and were convinced that the city was under attack.

Phones for police stations rang of the hook all across the east coast. Callers were inquiring what to do for the attack, whether or not they should evacuate, and if the gas from the raids would reach them. Many callers were just trying to confirm the reports but others were already convinced

CBS released a statement pointing out that throughout the broadcast it was reported as fiction but apologized for the vividness of the telling.

War of the Worlds, a Glimpse into 1938

The most intriguing thing about the coverage in the--New York Times/10/31/1938-- was how it was organized compared to how we organize our news stories today. Stories had strong leads and used some form of the inverted pyramid. As I read on, though, each story became an almost scene-for-scene account of the events. Once the reporter had explained the situation they would continue on to describe the stories of hysteria in fair detail. Eventually I began skimming because it was becoming too arduous to read.

The language and use-- or lack of use –of AP style was surprising. The rules for what was acceptable have changed a lot over the last 75 years. Things like time, citing, and numbers seem to be written in a more relaxed AP format. There is some inconsistency when referring to specific times. For example the use of “between 8:15 and 9:30 o'clock last night.” I’m assuming at some point they realized that “o’clock” is unnecessary, especially when referring to specific times. They often introduce whole quotes from outside sources using a simple colon and beginning a new paragraph. Very little attribution is used. Although it’s not confusing to read the style just lengthens what you’re reading. This becomes a great example of how we consume information. Now we expect to understand news so much quicker. At one point people took the time to sit and read the whole story. One day we may just end up reading the headlines to our stories because information will be moving so quickly we won’t have time to read whole articles. I hope that day is far away.

Limited Sources For Supposed Alien Attack

There were not a whole lot of primary sources available for this type of source; other than newspaper coverage., and that was only in some cities. The best primary source is the broadcast itself--WABC/10/30/1938/8:00p.m.--which is available at radiolab.com.

Listening to the broadcast is revealing as to how quickly people bought into the hysteria. My best guess to pursue secondary sources would be documentaries or additional coverage on the events. The event wasn’t expected to be historic, so I don’t believe people were prepared to document it.

My only comments are to shorten and focus the story, as I stated earlier. The story became arduous to read because of its length. The reporter should have focused on the broadcast itself and the reaction it drew from the public. 

The reporter should have then gathered sources from police precincts, residents of the cities or states where this was supposed to be happening, and comments from public officials about how they plan to approach or resolve this problem. If they had more concise writing and utilized their sources more than the story would have been much easier to read. I did gather the information I needed but it felt more difficult than it should have been.