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.

Merry Christmas from Superman, 1945

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Bob Stepno

“Christmas today is very extra-special,” the Man of Steel announced to listeners seventy years ago, at the start of the “Adventures of Superman” episode broadcast on the first Christmas Day after the end of World War II. With Germany and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adventure, Superman, World War II | Leave a comment

Hate mongers vs. refugees and minorities

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Bob Stepno

In the wake of World War II, radio’s fictional journalists were defenders of immigrants and religious and ethnic minorities. A Big Town Christmas episode about a Polish refugee newspaper editor, and Superman and The Daily Planet’s fight against “The Klan … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, Brotherhood, Clark Kent, Jimmy Olsen, Superman, World War II | Leave a comment

Calling Clark Kent — not Superman — to the rescue

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Bob Stepno

News stories about September 2015 death of Jack Larson — “Jimmy Olsen” on the 1950s Superman television series — often mentioned the actor’s dislike for story-lines that repeatedly had “Jimmy” dripping wet, threatened by rising tides or torture-rooms filling with water. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 1950s, adaptations, adventure, Clark Kent, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, reporters, reporting, Superman, television | 1 Comment

Two-fisted editor KO’s reform school scandal

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Bob Stepno

News about a real-life judge sentenced to jail for taking kickbacks from a for-profit jail reminded me of this Big Town episode, with its crusading newspaper editor sending a 17-year-old copyboy undercover to expose a corrupt and barbaric reformatory. “A … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, Drama, newspaper crusades, newspapers, undercover | Leave a comment

Custer’s stand in the Pacific: An injured Soldier of the Press

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Soldiers_Of_The_Press_Singles/SoldiersOfThePress42-11-30004JoeJamesCuster-WithBattleFleet.mp3 This episode of the United Press World War II radio series Soldiers of the Press covers reporter Joe James Custer’s service from Pearl Harbor through the sinking of a U.S. Navy cruiser he was assigned to in the Solomon Islands … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, Soldiers of the Press, true stories, United Press, World War II | Leave a comment

The typewriter, and the woman who invented a career

Posted on April 25, 2015 by Bob Stepno

The Reluctant Pioneer isn’t specifically about journalism, but it certainly is related — the story of the invention of the typewriter, told in traditional “who, what, when, where” order by the woman who first made it run. This radio drama — part of a … Continue reading →

Posted in 19th century, cavalcade, historical figures, technology | Leave a comment

Hey Lucky, get me rewrite!

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Bob Stepno

My cousin in Memphis just told me she heard an episode of the classic series called “Night Beat” recently on a satellite radio show made up of golden age broadcasts. I told her she’d found one of my favorites, and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, adaptations, Chicago, columnists, Drama, ethics, reporters, writing | Leave a comment

How do you know so much, paperboy?

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Bob Stepno

“How do you know so much, paperboy?” — Detective Danny Clover to reporter Jed Stacy. https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Broadway_Is_My_Beat_Singles/BIMB_49-08-11_ep005_The_Jane_Darwell_Murder_Case.mp3 “Broadway is My Beat” was a mystery series broadcast from February 1949 to August 1954 by the same CBS network that brought audiences Crime … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, detectives, tabloids | 1 Comment

The bloodstained Chicago paper is a clue

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Bob Stepno

Juke Box Melodrama Newspapers as an “old media” technology survived the 1950s and struggled into the next century, but this May 1951 episode of Night Beat features an even rarer form of communication — a coin-op juke box with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Chicago, Drama, reporters | Leave a comment

What a reporter can do…

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Bob Stepno

Clark Kent may have been Superman, but most of his early radio adventures opened with him hard at work as a newspaperman — in this case driving dangerously rain-soaked mountain roads in fog and hail to interview a scientist, on … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, Clark Kent, ethics, Lois Lane, Superman | Leave a comment