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THE BROADCAST THAT
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ON the night of Sunday, October 30, an unprecedented wave of panic swept the United States, caused by a program which was broadcast by Orson Welles (pictured here) and his Mercury Theater troupe on the Columbia network. It was a dramatization of H. G. Wells' old thriller, "The War of the Worlds" — a fantasy describing the supposed invasion of the Earth by an army of huge, horrible Martians.
Thousands of listeners, tuning in the program after it started, heard the spot news "bulletins" — the method by which the story was largely told — and became convinced that this planet was actually being invaded by fearsome creatures who were destroying people by the hundreds with their "death rays."
Not until after the broadcast did Welles, his troupe, and the network realize the panic that had been loosed in the nation. From every part of the country came news that men and women were rushing into the streets, driving madly into the country to escape the "end of the world."
The following day the head of the Federal Communications Commission, Frank McNinch, publicly declared the broadcast "regrettable," and promised an investigation. CBS officials and Welles expressed their apologies for the unexpected outcome and promised that the news "bulletin" technique would not be used again in circumstances that could cause listeners alarm.
Already there has risen the beginning of a hue and cry for censorship of radio, the bugaboo that haunted broadcasters a year ago, following a Mae West appearance on the air. Already a promise has been made of a bill to be introduced in Congress to require all scripts to be sent to a government agency before broadcasting.
The eventual outcome of this program and its effect on broadcasting as we know it today probably cannot be decided for months to come.
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COMING! In the February issue of RADIO MIRROR, read untold facts about the program and its young star, who was able to plunge a whole nation into terror