The Myth of the War of the Worlds Panic

Why did newspaper reporters exaggerate the effects of the War of the Worlds broadcast?

• To impress audiences

• To get people to distrust radio news

• They wanted to hurt CBS and Welles

• They didn't check their sources

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CCSS.RI.9-10.6

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How did newspapers feel about radio in the 1930s?

• Curious

• Impressed

• indifferent

• resentful

What are TWO possible reasons Welles's broadcast didn't have as many listeners as people think?

• People didn't have radios

• Newspapers didn't have good surveys/estimates

• The Chase and Sanborn Hour was on at the same time

• Only 2% of people surveyed said they listened to it

• It didn't air on the West Coast

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CCSS.RI.9-10.1

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According to “The Myth of the War of the Worlds Panic,” how do PBS and Radiolab account for the huge numbers of people they believe were listening to Welles’s broadcast, despite evidence to the contrary?

• They claim that journalists did not have a good reason to file false reports.

• They claim that stories from listeners were more reliable than the CBS survey.

• They claim that many listeners switched to Welles’s play after it had started.

• They claim that more affiliates were playing the show than CBS originally reported.

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If I sensationalize a report, I most likely...

• exaggerate it to make it exciting

• plagiarize it

• make it up

• pay people to read it

What is an apocryphal story?

• One that is probably not true

• One that teaches a lesson

• One that is well-researched

• One that is probably true

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CCSS.L.9-10.4

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What is a likely synonym for "salient?"

• irrelevant

• meaningful

• outlandish

• misleading

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CCSS.L.9-10.4

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CCSS.L.9-10.5B

Based on “The Myth of the War of the Worlds Panic,” what can readers determine about the survey conducted the night Welles’s broadcast aired?

• Everyone who responded to the survey knew who Orson Welles was.

• No one who responded mistook the War of the Worlds play for news.

• The people who were interviewed did not represent most radio listeners

• The people who were surveyed did not know what they were listening to.

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what most likely prompted CBS to commission a survey the day after the broadcast?

• They were happy to hear that they had beaten a popular national show in the ratings.

• They were excited that Welles’s play may have been heard by many more people than they’d thought.

• They were worried about reports that many people had listened to the play and thought it was news.

• They wanted to find out if listeners would be interested in additional radio plays like Welles’s broadcast.

Which of the following is NOT in the same word family as "hand?"

• handbag

• handled

• channel

• handcuff

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CCSS.L.9-10.4B