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The Resource Broadcast hysteria : Orson Welles's War of the Worlds and the art of fake news, A. Brad Schwartz

Broadcast hysteria : Orson Welles's War of the Worlds and the art of fake news, A. Brad Schwartz

Creator
Author
Summary
On the evening of October 30, 1938, radio listeners across the United States heard a startling report of a meteor strike in the New Jersey countryside. With sirens blaring in the background, announcers in the field described mysterious creatures, terrifying war machines, and thick clouds of poison gas moving toward New York City. As the invading force approached Manhattan, some listeners sat transfixed, while others ran to alert neighbors or to call the police. Some even fled their homes. But the hair-raising broadcast was not a real news bulletin-it was Orson Welles's adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic The War of the Worlds. In Broadcast Hysteria, A. Brad Schwartz boldly retells the story of Welles's famed radio play and its impact. Did it really spawn a "wave of mass hysteria, " as The New York Times reported? Schwartz is the first to examine the hundreds of letters sent to Orson Welles himself in the days after the broadcast, and his findings challenge the conventional wisdom. Few listeners believed an actual attack was under way. But even so, Schwartz shows that Welles's broadcast became a major scandal, prompting a different kind of mass panic as Americans debated the bewitching power of the radio and the country's vulnerability in a time of crisis. When the debate was over, American broadcasting had changed for good, but not for the better. As Schwartz tells this story, we observe how an atmosphere of natural disaster and impending war permitted broadcasters to create shared live national experiences for the first time. We follow Orson Welles's rise to fame and watch his manic energy and artistic genius at work in the play's hurried yet innovative production. And we trace the present-day popularity of "fake news" back to its source in Welles's show and its many imitators. Schwartz's original research, gifted storytelling, and thoughtful analysis make Broadcast Hysteria a groundbreaking new look at a crucial but little-understood episode in American history
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Edition
First edition.
Extent
337 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates
Contents
  • Introduction
  • Journalism and showmanship
  • Winged Mercury
  • Martians of the mind's eye
  • Yours in terror
  • Public frightener no. 1
  • Air racketeers
  • The public interest
  • The story of the century
  • A matter of psychology
  • The horror man
  • Conclusion
Isbn
9780809031610
Instance
Label
Broadcast hysteria : Orson Welles's War of the Worlds and the art of fake news
Title
Broadcast hysteria
Title remainder
Orson Welles's War of the Worlds and the art of fake news
Statement of responsibility
A. Brad Schwartz
Creator
Author
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
On the evening of October 30, 1938, radio listeners across the United States heard a startling report of a meteor strike in the New Jersey countryside. With sirens blaring in the background, announcers in the field described mysterious creatures, terrifying war machines, and thick clouds of poison gas moving toward New York City. As the invading force approached Manhattan, some listeners sat transfixed, while others ran to alert neighbors or to call the police. Some even fled their homes. But the hair-raising broadcast was not a real news bulletin-it was Orson Welles's adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic The War of the Worlds. In Broadcast Hysteria, A. Brad Schwartz boldly retells the story of Welles's famed radio play and its impact. Did it really spawn a "wave of mass hysteria, " as The New York Times reported? Schwartz is the first to examine the hundreds of letters sent to Orson Welles himself in the days after the broadcast, and his findings challenge the conventional wisdom. Few listeners believed an actual attack was under way. But even so, Schwartz shows that Welles's broadcast became a major scandal, prompting a different kind of mass panic as Americans debated the bewitching power of the radio and the country's vulnerability in a time of crisis. When the debate was over, American broadcasting had changed for good, but not for the better. As Schwartz tells this story, we observe how an atmosphere of natural disaster and impending war permitted broadcasters to create shared live national experiences for the first time. We follow Orson Welles's rise to fame and watch his manic energy and artistic genius at work in the play's hurried yet innovative production. And we trace the present-day popularity of "fake news" back to its source in Welles's show and its many imitators. Schwartz's original research, gifted storytelling, and thoughtful analysis make Broadcast Hysteria a groundbreaking new look at a crucial but little-understood episode in American history
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Schwartz, A. Brad
Dewey number
791.44/72
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • plates
Index
index present
LC call number
PN1991.77.W3
LC item number
S48 2015
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Welles, Orson
  • Welles, Orson
  • Science fiction radio programs
  • Mass media and public opinion
  • Hoaxes in mass media
  • Radio broadcasting
  • Broadcast journalism
Label
Broadcast hysteria : Orson Welles's War of the Worlds and the art of fake news, A. Brad Schwartz
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-317) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Introduction -- Journalism and showmanship -- Winged Mercury -- Martians of the mind's eye -- Yours in terror -- Public frightener no. 1 -- Air racketeers -- The public interest -- The story of the century -- A matter of psychology -- The horror man -- Conclusion
Control code
1591987
Dimensions
24 cm
Edition
First edition.
Extent
337 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9780809031610
Lccn
2014040510
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
  • (Sirsi) 1591987
  • (OCoLC)895030504
Label
Broadcast hysteria : Orson Welles's War of the Worlds and the art of fake news, A. Brad Schwartz
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-317) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Introduction -- Journalism and showmanship -- Winged Mercury -- Martians of the mind's eye -- Yours in terror -- Public frightener no. 1 -- Air racketeers -- The public interest -- The story of the century -- A matter of psychology -- The horror man -- Conclusion
Control code
1591987
Dimensions
24 cm
Edition
First edition.
Extent
337 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9780809031610
Lccn
2014040510
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
  • (Sirsi) 1591987
  • (OCoLC)895030504

Subject

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