As radio started being a widespread medium within the American society, radio started to have much more influence on people then it used to have before. Yet, people, in turn, began to trust radio more despite all the hoax it was spreading at that time. The biggest issue has occurred in 1938 when people were told about the invasion of the extraterrestrials on Earth via radio broadcasting. This case made a big boom in the radio industry and made people think twice before believing all the information they are told.
Most of the people did not know how to react on the information which was spreading through the radio in the early 1900s. Therefore, people usually believed all the words that were said by the radio speakers at that time. One of the most terrifying story of that time was the War of Worlds telling about some unknown object that landed somewhere in America, and after certain investigation people found out that this object is actually not just an asteroid but a real spaceship of extraterrestrials. Thereafter, this spaceship usually “woke up” after it had landed on some distant field or farm and started eliminating all people it saw on its way. I found a pretty funny moment while I was watching the first video. It was around 17 – 18 minutes from the beginning when alien spaceship “woke up” and started killing people, and they, in turn, started screaming so unrealistically that I honestly started laughing over people who actually believed this story. After that, the speaker reported that 40 people found dead and at this point I think people really started to be nervous and thought about what they are going to do next to save their lives.
However, I felt sorry for those people who got affected by this story and even escaped their houses in order to find a safer vault. At this point, I think those people who decided to tell such an effective story did not expect to find other people escaping their own houses and seeking for the guns to protect themselves from the sudden invasion. People were told the deceit and they believed this deceit. In order not to hide anything from my reader, I want to say that I have fallen for a hoax, too and this is definitely not one of the feeling that may be count as enjoyable for any person. It is rather misleading feeling that causes disbelief and doubt while talking to other people in the future.
I think that the reason why my professor chose this assignment is to show his students all the authority that different mass media have on society and how easily it can affect people in different ways. It can be easily related to the topic of Fake News that I had considered previously on my blog page. Furthermore, I think that it has to be stopped, people have to know the truth and never be told any hoaxes or information that leads to panic or disorder among the people in our society.
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