they only decided to say it was fake right at the beginning!
This was problamatic for those who tuned in mid way through, and when it sounded just like a trusted news story they might hear on there nightly radio. Those who were tuned in ahead of time, of course heard it was fake, but it seems not many were able to do tat.
While this seems like something that would happen long ago, and couldn't possibly happen today, let me direct you to a show called Ghostwatch. Ghostwatch was a show that aired on BBC in 1992. When it aired, it recieved an "estimated 30,000 calls to the BBC switchboard in a single hour." And it has not been aired in the UK since. This news style, documentary drove the viewers into an extreme fear. The show itself was banned for a decade after it aired.
It was a long running set up, that a famous news anchor (real one, that is) was going to go to a haunted house and film on Halloween night. What happened was one of the most terrifying hours of TV ever, and many people beleived it to be real. While it started innocently enough, it escalated from there. One viewer, a 13 year old boy, commited suicide, many believe to be a direct result from the show.
BBC was even taken to court, when viewers beileved it caused psychological harm to the viewers, and that they had a responsiblity of doing a little more than HINTING at its fakeness.
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