CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – There are some inventions in the world of telecommunications that have literally altered our minds.
The telegraph was like that – where news dispatches from Washington or from distant battlefields could be disseminated. Abraham Lincoln and his Secretary of State James Seward would wait in the telegraph room in the basement of the White House for updates about the Civil War. Before them, was something really “news” if it never reached your ears?
Television changed our world. 24-hour entertainment in our homes was unheard of before the wooden box with the picture tube inside. Our whole culture of celebrities grew exponentially because of television.
Consider how impatient the internet has made us. We expect an infinite world of facts and figures and information to be instantly available to us. “I’ll get back to you tomorrow” almost seems put-offish.
Almost forgotten is the radio drama. When radio was our primary source of entertainment, radio dramas would be narrated by casts of voice actors and would be played out in our minds. Superman, the Long Ranger, Little Orphan Annie were broadcast each week and played out in our imaginations. There was even one radio drama-the shadow-that could only exist in our minds. The shadow had the power to become invisible and would taunt people into doing the right thing – like confessing to crimes. “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men… The Shadow knows.” Such a show, with a protagonist who can’t be seen, doesn’t translate to the screens of TV or movies. But it made perfect sense on the radio.
Watching things unfold on screens has altered our minds. If I were to play an episode of The Lone Ranger for a group of grade schoolers… they wouldn’t be able to follow it. There attention spans are too short. And their minds are no longer able to visualize the story. You may not be able to either. Radio dramas belonged to our grandparents.
Technology changes us. Not for the worse or the better. We are just different. I share this to you because today, October 30th, is radio drama day.
Chris Conley
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