If they of course didn't verify what they head, and took what they heard to heart, then that would of course contribute to the panic.
3. Were these people media illiterate? Or did the Mercury Theatre broadcast play against people's media literacy? (That is, you had to know something of the conventions to make it "real.") (The National Geographic article discusses this a bit). In a way, the people who took the broadcast literally, they were a bit illiterate. However, they did not completely misunderstand what was being heard. If they were a little more informed and has a little more intuition to look up and verify what they were told, then that would make them more literate. Plus, because the information that was being broadcasted was exactly mimicking what would be real news was very deceiving. .
4.Was this (unintended?) duping of the American public by Welles's Halloween broadcast something that could have happened only in the 1930s? Have Americans become more sophisticated in their consumption of media? Have you heard about misinformation that has been passed on via the Internet as if it were correct information?.
Personally I feel that this can of course still scare some people. However, because in this day in age, where access to the internet is so abundant, more people would verify what they heard on the news broadcast. Yet, there would be people who aren't as informed would talk the information more serious. With technology evolving, yes American have become more sophisticated in their consumption of media. An example I can think about right of the bat when you say information being false yet it may see correct via the internet is through people editing pages on Wikipedia. .
5. Optional: Discuss any other comments or reactions to this radio broadcast, which is one of the most famous of all time.
Understanding War of the Worlds .
The Mercury Theatre Broadcast of October 30, 1938 is the most famous radio broadcast of all time.
