[78-L] Panic..or myth? (Hey, it was 73 years ago tonight, too)

[Julian Vein]

On 31/10/11 15:09, Elizabeth McLeod wrote:
> CBS had very poor penetration in New England in 1938, and most of the
> affliiates it did have were low-powered stations. Even WEEI was only a
> 5000 watt station with extremely spotty reception north of the city
> itself. The only Maine CBS affiliate was WLBZ in Bangor -- a thousand
> watt outlet on the low end of the dial which was often impossible to tune
> in thirty miles from the tower. Unless they wanted to try their luck
> pulling in WABC or WCAU, for an awful lot of people CBS didn't even exist.
>
> My grandparents had no idea what I was talking about when I asked them if
> they remembered "War Of The Worlds." Not only that, they had only the
> barest awareness of who Orson Welles was. I think modern people tend to
> take for granted the idea that everyone has access to all forms of media
> and popular culture, and assume that what they themselves think is
> important is important to everyone else. But in 1938, it was a very very
> different world.
>
> Elizabeth
> _______________________________________________
> I believe it was "The Skeptical Enquirer" (or was it "Fortean Times"?) that dealt with this subject about 15 years ago, and also came to the conclusion that there was no evidence of a panic.

      Julian Vein