Media Constructed Reality

We've recently taken a look at the phenomenon of C.S.I., and how it fits into the second key concept of media, that media constructs reality. Watching both an episode of the show and an episode of Oprah focusing on C.S.I. we analyzed how the producers of this hit crime show try to make it as close to reality as possible, as well as how (despite their efforts) it's quite obvious that it is a construction (i.e. through the credits, mood music, time lapses).

Well, C.S.I. certainly is popular, with it's several million fans, but I can think of an example of the second key concept that affected almost as many people... and for many it was in a much more negative way.

On October 30th, 1938, the U.S.A. tuned into their radios and were shocked to hear about the arrival of martians (aliens) on planet earth. There was a widespread panic, many people fled, a few committed suicide. The majority of these people turned on the radio too late to hear the broadcaster say that what they would be listening to was a work of fiction, and meant only for entertainment. We know the story well, over seven decades later it remains a hit and was recently made into a movie.... The War of the World's.

Why did so many people have such a panicked reaction to this "construction of reality?" Well, part of the reason is that the audiences of media determine the meaning in what they see/hear, which I'll explore in my next blog. Another reason is that the radio broadcast was created to sound threatening and frightening, it was meant to be a scary story... and they took the "scare" tactic a little too far in their construction. This construction of reality had a more immediate effect than C.S.I., which has made changes to our court proceedures and our perception of crime scene invesigation over a period of time, however it is still an example of how media constructs reality... and society reacts to whatever reality is constructed for them.