People Never Learn

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On September 30,1938 Orson Welles produced and broadcast his version of War of the World on the radio. It is said that over a million people across the US panicked and really believed we were being attacked by Martians. After the production there were legal proceedings and investigations to investigate whether Orson Welles and CBS had gone too far. His production of the H.G.Wells' book was done differently than the actual book's account. It was done using breaking news bulletins and news broadcasts that make the radio program seem more realistic and very believable. As a result of the publicity Welles' got from doing this radio program he was given the contract to do Citizen Kane. Although it seems like many people watched this a survey company that called about 5,000 households the night of the broadcast found that only 2 percent were actually listening to it. Without Warning, a special tv show, was shown in 1994. It was a tribute to Welle's broadcast of War of the World. Although many disclaimers were added throughout the show many people called in to the station to see what was going on. Just goes to show that people never learn. Picture from Wikipedia Public Domain