War of the Worlds Radio Play

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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Part B: What excerpt from “The Myth of the War of the Worlds Panic” best

supports the answer to Part A?

• As weeks, months, and years passed, the audience’s size swelled to such an extent that you might actually believe most of America was tuned to

  CBS that night.

• Welles’s program was scheduled against one of the most popular national

  programs at the time—ventriloquist Edgar Bergen’s Chase and Sanborn Hour, a comedy-variety show.

• [S]everal important CBS affiliates (including Boston’s WEEI) pre-empted Welles’s broadcast in favor of local commercial programming ….

• [CBS] network executives were relieved to discover just how few people

  actually tuned in…. “[T]hose who did hear it, looked at it as a prank and accepted it that way.”

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How are the clip from Radiolab: War of the Worlds and the article “The Myth of the War of the Worlds Panic” different from each other?

• Only Radiolab provided ratings information for the night of the play.

• Only Radiolab included transcripts of responses from actual listeners.

• Only the article included statements made by the producers of the play.

• Only the article mentioned newspaper reports of the play causing panic.

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One reason people reacted in fear to the radio play airing in 1938 was due to their fear of war.

• True

• False

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According to “The Myth of the War of the Worlds Panic,” people believed large amounts of people 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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What ideas did “The Myth of the War of the Worlds Panic” provide evidence to support? (Choose Two)

• Many people would have been familiar with the War of the Worlds story.

• Newspapers were not a reliable source of information about the panic.

• A large audience for the War of the Worlds would not have been expected.

• Some listeners sought help after the play because they thought it was news.

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In reality, the radio program was doing a version of a book.

• True

• False

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The consequences, as a result of airing of the radio play, can also be found by the spread of information via the internet.

• True

• False

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Why was Orson Welles' 1938 War of the Worlds radio play particularly important?

• It had great special effects.

• It had a powerful effect on audiences.

• It was the first time War of the Worlds was on the radio.

• It featured Hollywood actors.

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What was the primary reason for the public's panic during the original broadcast of the 'War of the Worlds' radio play?

• The realistic news bulletin format of the broadcast

• The use of sound effects that mimicked real-life events

• The lack of commercial breaks during the broadcast

• The timing of the broadcast during a period of political tension

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