Summary Of H. G. Wells 'War Of The Worlds'

On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles remade a script of H.G. Wells’ book War of the Worlds and performed it live on the Columbia Broadcasting system radio scaring millions of citizens leading to chaos. Orson Welles is guilty of violating the clear and present danger clause because he broadcasted fake news, caused police lines to become jammed and created mass fear and panic.
Only real news should be played on the radio. Judge Kennedy, who testified against Welles at trial stated that the broadcast was “fraudulent and illegal,” which it was. Heywood Brown, another witness, thought that “Only actual news should be played on the radio,” he stated sadly. H. G. Wells also called it “unwarranted liberty” because Orson Welles had no permission to edit the script. Judge Kennedy called his crime “fraudulent and illegal.” Orson Welles should be proven guilty for doing what he did. Welles should have known an innocent listener could join the broadcast at any time and assume that it was real. Welles clearly violated the clear and present danger clause by broadcasting something that was not real news on the radio. Welles created mass hysteria by broadcasting his play which should not have been done due to the fact that it was …show more content…
The Brooklyn police station received approximately 800 calls. The Trenton, New Jersey, police department also got many calls. The aftermath of Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds play on the radio led to many people calling the police station to find out what was going on. All of these calls, caused by fear, jammed the telephone lines. A police officer reported that if this were a real emergency, there was no way he could have known because all of the telephone lines were jammed. Additionally, citizens in need of emergency services were not able to call for help because the lines were jammed. Orson Welles put fear into the country’s minds causing people to overtax necessary phone