War Of The Worlds Effect

On the night of October 30, 1938, “War of the Worlds”, directed and narrated by Orson Welles shook up the United States. Over one million people listened to his broadcast on the radio of an adaptation of The War of the Worlds, a novel written by H.G. Wells. Through a series of news bulletins, Welles was able to tell a story of an alien invasion occurring in New Jersey. The broadcast frightened many of the listeners, believing that the broadcast was a real life situation. Although the broadcast of “War of the Worlds” was not intended to scare Americans, its effects were like none seen before. People went crazy, fearful that their lives were in danger. While many cannot pinpoint the exact reason for why “War of the Worlds” had such a great aftermath, reasons may include that it disrupted the already established anxieties that Americans held and that with the power of the radio, Americans had become accustomed to believing everything that was broadcasted to them. Today,

Broadcasted on October 30,1938 on the radio, the broadcast caused much panic because of its believability. Unlike ever before, the effects of the radio broadcast were displayed as people feared for their lives as they believed that a real alien invasion was happening through the news-bulletin formatted layout of the broadcast. The effects of “War of the Worlds” led Americans to realize the impact that the radio had on their life, how what they listened to controlled their lives without them even knowing it. Although the radio isn’t as popular today, media holds a powerful part in the lives of all Americans. With the growth of social media, the media is a bigger influence than ever before. While the effects of “War of the Worlds” are most likely to not happen today, the radio episode that was created innocently had lasting effects that are an important part of United States