There is nothing new under the sun!
So how did the story of the "panic" grow over the years?
Slate blames newspapers, which allegedly "seized the opportunity
presented by Welles' program to discredit radio as a source of news.
The newspaper industry sensationalized the panic to prove to advertisers,
and regulators, that radio management was irresponsible and not to be trusted."
ANNOUNCER: The Columbia Broadcasting System and its affiliated stations
present Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre on the Air in
The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells.
(MUSIC: MERCURY THEATRE MUSICAL THEME)
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen: the director of the Mercury Theatre
and star of these broadcasts, Orson Welles . . .
(and the rest is history)