Learning from Orson Wells and Martin Luther King
Orson Wells Mercury Theater radio production of HG Wells’ “War of the Worlds” was a significant moment in the history of media. Radio was a new powerful medium that filled the imagination and many people thought the world was really being invaded by aliens.
Confusing fiction and reality, entertainment and news has always been a feature of media. Reality is perceived through media, whether it be the impact of the Bible and The Quran or though newspapers, radio, film, TV and social media.
I descend from Irish Catholics and was once told, in light hearted jest, that the Irish don’t let facts get in the way of a good story. A career in advertising and working with brands like Nike, Apple and Uniqlo has given me both a sensitivity to, and a respect for, the truths we create with the stories we craft. The story is what moves minds and hearts and creates our reality.
Narrative is crafted by both the written word and the image. Martin Luther King delivered his “I have a dream” speech beneath the Lincoln memorial that enshrined the Gettysburg address and offered a simple story “that government of the people by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth”. The photograph of civil rights leaders beneath the towering statue of Lincoln presents both the promise and the tension of the American story.
In a sense all narratives are fake. Their creation is an art. Facts are not stories, facts are not truth. A truth can also be seen as a fake by someone with a different perspective.
If your goal is to unify a disparate and messy collection of people the story you tell has to rise above difference and speak to a common experience. Walter Cronkite of CBS News understood this as he pursued ratings for his employer. He understood that massive ratings came from storytelling that spoke to all. As media fragmented into the partisanship of cable news a unifying American narrative faded and the nation polarized.
The War of the Worlds illuminated the power of imagination through the new medium of radio. Today we are still struggling with the new “social” media and its ability to create many truths by telling many stories to many people. It is both a wonder and a horror. The art of storytelling is as powerful and as critical as it ever was, whether you are selling a shoe or trying to lead a nation.