Click here for the War of the Worlds broadcast by Orson Welles.
This broadcast, which was mad on April 1, 1938 (April Fool's Day) was taken seriously by many people across the nation. The ensuing panic, including some suicides in the face of the coming invasion, was far from what Orson Welles had expected. Nevertheless, he formally apologized and made clear that he had not been trying to present the dramatic reading as a real life news story. The incident was a testament to the power of radio and its ability to shape peoples' perspectives on what was happening in their nation.
This broadcast, which was mad on April 1, 1938 (April Fool's Day) was taken seriously by many people across the nation. The ensuing panic, including some suicides in the face of the coming invasion, was far from what Orson Welles had expected. Nevertheless, he formally apologized and made clear that he had not been trying to present the dramatic reading as a real life news story. The incident was a testament to the power of radio and its ability to shape peoples' perspectives on what was happening in their nation.
