Orson Welles's War of the Worlds

Characteristics of broadcast that make it realistic:

• Uses real places (cities in New Jersey like Grover's Hill, Princeton, etc.)
• Story develops slowly instead of a spontaneous invasion
• Starts off as observations on Mars
• Reported as interruptions in regularly scheduled programming which keeps it both realistic and suspenseful
  
• Slow encounter with first hostile ship before entering state of panic (the ship that landed in Grover's Hill
• Interviews with professionals who go from skeptical to fearful
• Death of Carl Phillips (initial reporter) adds to urgency
• Vivid descriptions of aliens, space ship, and "heat ray"
• Effective sound effects: Humming from ship, screaming people, etc.
• Use of officials from the White House alerting a national emergency (a realistic reaction from the nation to a real alien invasion)
• Eyewitness accounts
• Interviews are imperfect (interviewer asks eyewitness to speak louder or cuts him off at some points) adding to atmosphere of panic and chaos

How the first 40 minutes differ from the last 20 minutes:

• The first 40 minutes of the broadcast are packed with on-the-scene information about the alien attack. It is frantic and filled with different interviews from professionals including Professor Pearson, an official from Princeton. The last 20 minutes are more hopeless recollections of the destruction caused by the aliens.

How effective was the disclaimer?

• The disclaimer was placed in a position that could've been and was easily missed by any listeners since by then they were probably running around panicking. It should have been stated in the beginning.
  

Chapter 4: Popular Radio

This chapter is about the origins of the radio and its development into what it is today in our country. I originally knew that Guglielmo Marconi had a hand in inventing the radio and that other people were involved, but I never researched the details any further. It was interesting to read about De Forest and Sarnoff. "The radio was to the printing press what the telephone was to the telephone" analogy was helpful to me in illustrating the importance of the radio at the time. The reading also explained how advertisements were first broadcasted on the radio around 1922 caused an uproar among audiences throughout the nation. This came to me as surprising because commercials on the radio are so common nowadays. I feel that the radio has changed significantly from what it used to be back when it first became popular, and I understand the concern raised about this issue in the first part of the chapter regarding the train wreck in North Dakota.

NPR 100 most important American Musical works of 20th century

Sugarhill Gang: Rapper's Delight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diiL9bqvalo

Chapter 3: Sound Recording and Popular Music

The first part of this chapter immediately captured my interest when it explained the rise of the Apple iPod and the iTunes music store. I found the first section of this chapter (the history of how society went from the phonograph to the compact disc) to be a little dry although necessary. The rest of the chapter goes on to explore the history of music developed in this country and the sound-recording industry.
As expected, the battle between recording labels and the internet of music-stealing from the internet was a main focus throughout the text. Rock and Roll’s heavy influence on American culture was also explored, although other genres were mentioned as well. I particularly found the breakup of where the money on a $16.98 CD goes to be very interesting.