Exchange and interconnection in US network radio

A reinterpretation of the 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast

Bibliographic Data

ID12723613
AuthorsJoy Elizabeth Hayes (0000-0001-6701-6371, corresponding author), Kathleen Battles
Year2011
Volume9
Issue1
Pages51-62
Publication date2011-07-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueRadio Journal International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1476-4504 • E-ISSN: 2040-1388
PublisherIntellect (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1386/rjao.9.1.51_1
OpenAlexW2319386921
LanguageEN
Citations received9

This article offers a revision of the dominant reading of the 1938 War of the Worlds radio play as an unparalleled example of media power and radio artistry. Analyses of both the sound-text of the broadcast and audience responses collected afterwards show that War of the Worlds – like a number of other radio programme genres – explored the possibility of two-way communication in national network radio. The play celebrated radio's ability to coordinate multiple communication media and create a 'constant communicative presence' in which the listener was a central part. Although many audience members were frightened or disturbed by the broadcast, we argue that the primary audience response was to communicate with others through social and technologically mediated networks. Listeners drew on these networks to interrogate the meaning of the broadcast, share information with family and friends and 'talk back' to the media

Aesthetics · Art · Broadcasting (networking · Computer security · Meaning (existential · Media studies · Political science · Power (physics · Radio broadcasting · Reading (process · Reinterpretation · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Telecommunications · Computer Science · History · Law · Media, Journalism, and Communication History · Psychology · Radio, Podcasts, and Digital Media