After listening to "War of the Worlds" in this module's Power Point, think about the repercussions of this news story as it relates to the consequences of "fake news" that we see today. In modern news, people are more inclined to believe a misleading meme or news story that has false information if it confirms something they already believe. Social media leads the way in the spread of such misinformation among users. Do you think that a radio broadcast like War of the Worlds could ever cause the mass hysteria it did years ago? How do you think today's social media environment might increase or decrease the chances that someone would believe the story? Explain your answers.

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The War of the Worlds radio broadcast which aired on October 30 1938 created panic and mass hysteria among some listeners who believed that a Martian ... View the full answer