popular thinking

AS P.T. BARNUM SAYS: "There is a sucker born every minute." Or something like that. The remake of H.G. Wells' The War of The Worlds got us thinking about Orson Welles and his legendary 1938 radio broadcast and resulted in the following newsroom question: What would it take to scare us today? What I enjoy most about journalism is the ability to not only ask such questions, but also let that initial query get modified based on debate and discussion. Part of the problem with media credibility results from the public believing the media has bias -- in other words, that journalists already feel they know the answer to the question. Me not like that. Me like letting the story evolve. Me like talking to Jeff Jarvis (he lives in New Jersey, so he'd know about alien invasions -- although I must say, I spent four glorious years in the Garden State, so it's not all bad. Unless you count Seaside Heights fashion.) Me stop now.

Here is my story from Sunday's Boston Herald. Enjoy the director's cut below.

Aliens are invading New Jersey!
Time to panic?
When Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre troupe adapted The War of the Worlds into an October 1938 radio broadcast, some frightened listeners who didn't hear the disclaimers actually took to the streets to flee or fightthe fictitious Martian invaders.
But when Steven Spielberg brings H.G. Wells' sci-fi tale to the big screen Wednesday, the only thing left to fear is a close encounter with Tom Cruise.
Since the 9/11 attacks, Americans have faced threats both real and imagined - from anthrax scares to SARS, bird flu, West Nile virus, bogus terrorist attacks on tourist spots and shopping malls, identity theft, even earthquake-triggered tsunamis. Aside from those few trusting folks who duct-taped their homes during an "orange alert,'' many Americans have become comfortably numb to the latest screaming headline or government warning.
"You could say we're more skeptical and smarter,'' said Jeff Jarvis.
Jarvis, who created Entertainment Weekly and writes an online media blog called Buzz Machine, doesn't believe anyone could fool us like Welles did 67 years ago. "A hoax can be shot down in no time online,'' Jarvis said. "The hoax can live only until the debunkers rise to the top of a Google search.''
David Mikkelson, who runs the urban legends site Snopes.com with his wife in California, said he could debunk it immediately, "if we're home that day.''
In 1938, you would have had a hard time verifying Welles' Martian landing - unless you lived in Grovers Mill, N.J.
In contrast, the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks unfolded live on every TV network and every radio station. Today, people can call friends on cellphones, turn on the TV or check the Internet.
"The technology changes, but human nature stays the same,'' Mikkelson said. "I don't know if I'd call it gullible, but people do still respect authoritative sources or figures. So if they see something on the news, they don't necessarily question the source.''
TV newscasts are guilty of similar scare tactics, said media psychologist Stuart Fischoff.
Fischoff, professor emeritus at California State University, Los Angeles, has said that television amplifies and in some cases feeds crises with "breaking news'' graphics, attention-getting logos, menacing music and ominous voice-overs.
("Is the water at your children's school safe to drink? Tune in tonight to find out.'')
"Then they'll offer you something to calm you down,'' Fischoff said. "They do that all the time. But some people are still susceptible to that.''
Fischoff suggested something closer to home might trigger real fears - a prison break with a mad killer on the loose, or "something that cannot be easily confirmed.''
"I heard the Big Dig is collapsing,'' Fischoff said.
He's joking . . . right?