As the world has evolved on multiple fronts, its’ reliance on the mass media has only grown more reliant since 1938. There is an inherent expectation that the news will not only contain current information but that there is authenticity in the reporting given. Even though the twenty-first century has just begun an even greater dependence on mass media for information on every part of their lives is evident. The “War of the Worlds” panic shows how you only need to fool a relatively small portion of people for a short period to create large-scale disruptions to society. That is the lesson we can extract from the reaction to the 1938 broadcast. What plays into it is the excitement and fear of new media. In addition the structure of our commercial