Journalism today needs heroes.

For inspiration — or at least food for thought about what might make a journalist “a hero” — this site explores radio’s portrayals of “ladies and gentlemen of the press” back when broadcasting was going from hot “new media” idea to prime-time living room entertainment.

“Newspaper Heroes on the Air” — jheroes.com for short — will be a blog and podcast about radio’s depiction of journalists, from fictional characters like Clark Kent and Lois Lane to real-life legends like Horace Greeley, Joseph Pulitzer and other old-time editors, reporters, printers and publishers.

Along with their radio-broadcast versions, from time to time you will find here references to fictional and real journalists in films, novels, comic books, songs and other manifestations of popular culture. See my “At the Movies” page for some of the connections.

If you can’t wait for me to blog about a topic, see the Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture project for related materials. I’ve also outlined a proposed course that I may get to teach next year.

Testing of this podcast idea began at my main blog in December. Regular postings will begin here in January 2011, after I come up with an appropriate collage/logo for the top of the page — and around the time I start teaching a related course.

Meanwhile I’ll be compulsively editing and rewriting this start-up post, then moving its semi-finished contents to the “about” page.