Monthly Archives: March 2012

Clark Kent, super burglar or stupid bungler?

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Bob Stepno

Being on the side of truth and justice appears to have justified some “might means right” tactics in Clark Kent’s early reporting repertoire, including burglary, threats, assault and kidnapping. For example, in this sequence from the second year of the … Continue reading →

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Former police chief becomes investigative reporter

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Bob Stepno

“Here’s the dope, Bob…” — former Chief Henderson. A few episodes ago Betty and Bob Drake convinced their corrupt city’s former police chief to become an investigative reporter on their paper, The Trumpet. In this episode, he lets them know … Continue reading →

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Clark Kent, unethical sports reporter?

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Bob Stepno

“You’re a reporter, not a detective,” Perry White to Clark Kent. The month of March madness seems an odd season to be writing about football, but here goes — with a tale that demonstrates that there were sometimes shades of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, Clark Kent, ethics, Lois Lane, Perry White, sports, Superman | 2 Comments

Running a crusading newspaper as a ‘line of duty’

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Bob Stepno

“Miracles don’t happen twice in a lifetime,” Betty Drake warned her husband Bob in last week’s episode, titled “Bob Is Returning to Monroe to Fight.” She was reminding him that only an advanced operation restored his ability to walk after … Continue reading →

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Something Green for St. Patrick’s Day

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Bob Stepno

  The band played an Irish jig  whenever derby-wearing Michael Axford entered the scene in The Green Hornet Strikes Again, the 1941 movie serial closely based on the Green Hornet radio program. Cop-turned-reporter Axford, played by Wade Boteler in the … Continue reading →

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Even soap-opera journalists can fly the flag of human decency

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Bob Stepno

“Betty and Bob have neither thought nor fear of the disasters that may lie ahead. Their newspaper will not only fly the flag of freedom and human decency, but will fight for it.” Publishers Betty and Bob Drake have turned … Continue reading →

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Teamwork at The Daily Planet

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Bob Stepno

For this weekend, four episodes concluding “Professor Thorpe’s Bathysphere,” transported from the fall of 1940 for your March 2012 entertainment. 9: Sept. 13, 1940 10: Sept. 16, 1940 11: Sept. 18, 1940 12: Sept. 20, 1940 At this point in … Continue reading →

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Radio celebrated women journalists in fact and fiction

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Bob Stepno

Happy International Women’s Day… First, here’s a dramatized version of a real woman reporter covering a real crime story — with a young woman criminal for good measure. Farther down the page, you will find links to other radio programs … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, 1940s, 19th century, cavalcade, Hearst, Hildy Johnson, historical figures, Lois Lane, women | Leave a comment

Newspapers as Madness: Is Bob Ready to Take Control?

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Bob Stepno

“You wouldn’t have made a bad detective, either of you” — ex-police chief to editors Betty & Bob In last week’s eighth episode in our 16-part “Betty and Bob” story, crusading editor and publisher Bob Drake hired a former police chief … Continue reading →

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What’s a ‘batch-i-naylian orgy’? Ask Abby

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Bob Stepno

About half-way through this Cavalcade of America radio profile, a libelous attack on suffragist newspaper publisher Abigail Scott Duniway sends her off to the dictionary to find out more about the lies a competing newspaper has been telling about her. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 19th century, cavalcade, editors, historical figures, true stories, women | Leave a comment