After listening to a part of the broadcast (see below), answer the following questions in about 1 1/2 - 3 pages double spaced. Please submit your response to Dropbox by Sunday at 11:59pm. You may want to read the following article for further information about the radio broadcast before answering the questions: National Geographic article: "War of the Worlds": Behind the 1938 Radio Show Panic. .
1. What skills are involved in being a radio listener? In other words, how is 'reading' or interpreting the radio program different from 'reading' a television program?" Discuss the differences.
There are many skills that are required to be a radio listener, and first and foremost of course to be a good listener, you need to be able to understand and listen. Second, you also need to be skeptical about what you hear. You need to question what you are listening to and if you think that the information is being told or you are listening to you have to be able to verify it. There are of course differences in reading or interpreting the radio program compared to reading or interpreting a television program. First, when it comes to a television program, you have a visual when you are listening to the information that is given to you. However, when you are simply listening to a radio broadcast, you have to use your imagination a little more. When it comes to a radio broadcast, then you can have your imagination roam a little more and that can be a bad thing if you don't get your information verified. .
2. Comment on what elements would have been familiar to the listeners and what elements contributed to the panic.
The element that would have been familiar to the listener is of course because of the fact that the radio broadcast that was being played over the airwaves was exactly being played just like a "real" new report. Since that broadcast was being played so similarly, some people would have a hard time to distinguish whether it was really a report.
