Author Archives: Bob Stepno

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About Bob Stepno

mild-mannered reporter who found computers & the Web in grad school in the 1980s (Wesleyan) and '90s (UNC); taught journalism, media studies, Web production; retired to write, make music, photograph sunsets & walks in the woods.

Constitutional Reporting Becomes a Cliffhanger

Posted on October 19, 2025 by Bob Stepno

Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton are among the news sources interviewed by a thorough, and presumably thoroughly fictional, newspaper reporter trying to get the backstory on the US Constitution before its signing in 1787. While Tom Farrell is … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, Colonial America, historical figures, History, reporters, true stories | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Newshounds & that Hornet buzz

Posted on October 9, 2025 by Bob Stepno

Back in 1939, The Green Hornet fought crime by tricking crooks into giving themselves away, but his radio series was also giving away snapshots of the lives of newspaper reporters. The staff of The Daily Sentinel worked for Britt Reid, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, adventure, GreenHornet, Police, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Reporter calls it heartbreak

Posted on August 21, 2025 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/T5project/Theater%20Five%20650115%20120%20The%20Trophy%20VLQ.mp3 Reporters weren’t a regular feature of Theater Five … but a project aimed updating the archived copies of this 1964-1965 ABC Radio series has me listening for newspapers and newsies. I also listen for references to the “newspaper habit” … Continue reading →

Posted in 1960s, newspaper readers, newspapers, photographer, reporters, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Newspaper comics on the radio

Posted on August 15, 2025 by Bob Stepno

This isn’t about journalism’s “newspaper heroes,” but another convergence of America’s 20th century “newspaper culture” and that mass media upstart, radio broadcasting — and the more recent “collector culture” of old time radio on the internet. The crossover medium here … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 1950s, children, comics, historical figures, newspapers | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Sports heroes meet journalism heroes

Posted on May 16, 2025 by Bob Stepno

Time for some reorganizing. JHeroes hasn’t had a “Sports” heading on its main menu, but there have been at least a half-dozen posts and pages over the years with baseball, football and boxing themes. Here’s a list of the date-stamped … Continue reading →

Posted in movies, newspapers, radio, sports | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Newspaper owner gets electric chair; he led hate group, ordered murders & kidnapping

Posted on April 8, 2025 by Bob Stepno

I usually avoid “spoilers” in writing about radio drama, not wanting to discourage folks from listening to the archived original broadcasts. But I also have old-newspaperman guilt about “burying the lede” and wanted to write the headline above. So today’s … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, Clark Kent, hate groups, progressive causes, propaganda, Race, racial justice, Superman, villains | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Corrupt Politicians Threaten Partisan Reporter

Posted on April 5, 2025 by Bob Stepno

In May 1946, Lois Lane is invited to speak on behalf of a progressive candidate at a mass meeting, part of “the bitterest election campaign in the history of Metropolis” … and the story opens with a telephone threat, which … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adventure, comics, ethics, Jimmy Olsen, journalism, local news, Lois Lane, Lois Lane, newspaper bias, newspaper crusades, political corruption, progressive causes, reporters, reporting, Superman | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A mystery about a mystery

Posted on August 18, 2024 by Bob Stepno

Perhaps a pilot for a possible series, this is the only episode of “The Fabulous Mr. Manchester” I have seen in radio collectors’ logs online. It was an ABC broadcast on May 06, 1950. Fortunately, YouTube channels about radio mysteries … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, Europe, foreign correspondents | Tagged , | Leave a comment

D-Day Updated (again)

Posted on June 6, 2024 by Bob Stepno

Back when I was still teaching, I did annual D-Day updates of my JHeroes pages about the “Soldiers of the Press” radio series, which dramatized the lives of United Press reporters whose bylines appeared in newspapers across America and around … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, radio, reporters, reporting, Soldiers of the Press, United Press | Leave a comment

Divorce can be murder

Posted on May 16, 2024 by Bob Stepno

With more than 500 episodes of “The Whistler” in the Old Time Radio Researchers’ collection at the Internet Archive, you can hear its spooky-voiced narrator introduce suspenseful and ironic stories about people from many walks of life. For the story “Night … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, crime, Drama, newspapers, reporters, suspense, The Whistler, women | Leave a comment