Spooked: Dear FCC–Hoaxes

by Gail Jarrow
In 1938, Orson Welles performed a radio version of H.G. Wells's science fiction novel The War of the Worlds — and inadvertently sparked panic among listeners who believed they were tuned in to a real news broadcast about an alien invasion. This award-winning book tells the story behind the broadcast and explores the effects of false information in the media.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–4, Chapters 5–7, Chapters 8–11, Dear Mr. Welles–Chapter 12, Dear FCC–Hoaxes
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. agitate
    try to stir up (e.g., public opinion)
    “If some action is not taken, the citizens of this country will have to agitate for complete control of all radio broadcasting by the Federal Government.”
    J. H., New York, New York
  2. heed
    pay close attention to
    “It may be well to consider...that should a real emergency arise and should a warning be broadcast; would the people heed that warning or having been fooled once before, turn their radios off with a remark ‘another radio drama.’”
    T. B., New York, New York
  3. willingness
    cheerful compliance
    “I am annoyed by Radio’s willingness to let this country be the laughing stock of Europe—at the same time when national prestige is no joke—rather than admit its hoax.”
    L. M., Sanbornton, New Hampshire
  4. incensed
    angered at something unjust or wrong
    “I wouldn’t permit my family to turn on W.A.B.C. again if it were the only station broadcast….I only hope that the author of pain suffers as he made thousands suffer. I am so incensed I can’t even write.”
    R.F., Ridgefield Park, New Jersey
  5. abominable
    unequivocally detestable
    “CBS program of last evening was most abominable hoax ever perpetrated on the American public.”
    J. S., Tylertown, Mississippi
  6. perpetrate
    perform an act, usually with a negative connotation
    “CBS program of last evening was most abominable hoax ever perpetrated on the American public.”
    J. S., Tylertown, Mississippi
  7. coddle
    treat with excessive indulgence
    He thought that the previous two generations had been coddled too much because of “mistaken theories of education.”
  8. biased
    favoring one person or side over another
    The polling samples were biased toward those who thought the broadcast was real, and the statistical analyses of the data were flawed.
  9. staggering
    so surprisingly impressive as to stun or overwhelm
    But the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company later said that the number of calls placed that night had increased by just 6 or 7 percent. That was hardly the staggering amount reported in newspapers.
  10. composite
    a conceptual whole made up of complicated and related parts
    Orson Welles rehearses The Campbell Playhouse in this 1938 CBS publicity composite.
  11. credible
    appearing to merit belief or acceptance
    John Houseman later remarked: “I guess they figured if Orson could make the War of the Worlds credible and the Martians credible, he could make Campbell’s Chicken Soup credible.”
  12. ingenious
    showing inventiveness and skill
    In October 1940, Welles met the author whose ingenious 1897 story had brought the actor stardom.
  13. spree
    a brief indulgence of your impulses
    He complimented Welles on-air, calling the 1938 radio program a “sensational Halloween spree.”
  14. notorious
    known widely and usually unfavorably
    Years after the War of the Worlds broadcast, Orson Welles claimed that he always intended it to scare people. He said he wanted to teach them a lesson about trusting everything on the radio. But Welles was a notorious storyteller.
  15. memoir
    an account of the author's personal experiences
    In their memoirs, both John Houseman and Howard Koch denied his account.
  16. bureaucratic
    of or relating to unnecessary procedures and red tape
    Years later, Welles acknowledged that Houseman made possible the staging of the Mercury’s theatre productions. “Without his gifts as a bureaucratic finagler, the shows just wouldn’t have got on. I owe him much. Leave it at that.”
  17. finagle
    achieve something by means of trickery or devious methods
    Years later, Welles acknowledged that Houseman made possible the staging of the Mercury’s theatre productions. “Without his gifts as a bureaucratic finagler, the shows just wouldn’t have got on. I owe him much. Leave it at that.”
  18. sap
    deplete
    Howard Koch once observed: "What happened to Orson’s career is that he became a celebrity. That became his life and sapped his talent. And he lost John Houseman, and that was a very solid base for him to work from.”
  19. complimentary
    expressing praise and admiration
    Houseman was generally complimentary in his comments about Welles.
  20. acclaim
    praise vociferously
    In 1944, Koch won an Academy Award as co-screenwriter for the acclaimed film Casablanca.
  21. pseudonym
    a fake name used to engage in some activity
    Unable to get work there, he moved to England, where he wrote screenplays under pseudonyms.
  22. assert
    declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true
    Asserting that he had been instrumental in writing it, Welles wanted control of its future use.
  23. blacklist
    add to a group to be boycotted, banished, or avoided
    In 1953, two other screenwriters reported Froelick to the House Un-American Activities Committee, and she was officially blacklisted.
  24. stigma
    a symbol of disgrace or infamy
    To overcome this stigma, Froelick used her married name, Anne Taylor, as a pseudonym.
  25. unprecedented
    novel; having no earlier occurrence
    The articles included scientific language and specific details about the telescope’s unprecedented power.
  26. grisly
    shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
    The article described the animal attacks in grisly detail and included a list of victims.
  27. at large
    having escaped, especially from confinement
    Although the police and even the governor had shot and killed many of the beasts, a dozen were still at large.
  28. disclaimer
    a voluntary repudiation of legal claim to something
    Many readers never saw the disclaimer.
  29. synchronize
    operate simultaneously
    The ad looked like one of Apple’s, and the scientific description of the process sounded authentic: "synchronize with microwave frequencies and use them to recharge your battery.”
  30. repercussion
    a remote or indirect consequence of some action
    The episode lasted less than ten minutes. But it revealed how fake news from a legitimate source could tear through social media and cause serious repercussions.
Created on Wed May 01 13:34:07 EDT 2019 (updated Wed May 01 16:25:56 EDT 2019)

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