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.

A Risky Resolution to Start a Big Town New Year

Posted on January 3, 2014 by Bob Stepno

Begin with a murderous hood named “Silky,” add a stripper named “Bubbles,” and introduce crusading newspaper editor trying to help a cleaning woman’s son, and you have just a few of the cliches in this “Big Town” story, “The Dangerous … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, crime, editors, World War II | Leave a comment

A Christmas story – Superman versus the Nielsen racket

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Bob Stepno

December 1946 — The bad guy in this Superman story isn’t threatening the world, but he could cost Clark Kent his job, and right before Christmas too! Yes, as the headline above suggests, the villain is a racketeer named Nielsen, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adventure, Clark Kent, comics, editors, Jimmy Olsen, journalism, newspaper crusades, newspapers, Perry White, reporting, Superman, World War II | Leave a comment

It Happened More Than One Night — on radio

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Bob Stepno

by Bob Stepno“It’s a Wonderful Life” had no newspaper characters to give me an excuse to include the seasonal favorite here, so I’ll make a holiday present of another Frank Capra classic: It Happened One Night appeared on the silver screen … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, 1940s, adaptations, Capra, comedy, reporters, romance, stereotypes | Leave a comment

A dark “Christmas Holiday” on radio

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Bob Stepno

Despite the title, “Christmas Holiday” is no Santa-and-sleighbells yule feature, but a “film noir” drama with a newspaper reporter as a pivotal character: He starts out on the shady side, does a couple of favors for the lead characters, and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adaptations, crime, holidays, movies, reporters | Leave a comment

Warming up with June Bride

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Bob Stepno

Here two radio adaptations of a snow-flaky romantic comedy called “June Bride,” about a magazine team trying to get a wedding feature written in a midwestern winter so that it will be set in type to greet spring readers. The … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 1950s, adaptations, comedy, editors, foreign correspondents, magazines, romance, women | Leave a comment

An honest newspaperwoman fights for a clean election

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Bob Stepno

Juvenile listeners to the 1950s Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok radio series heard at least one or two episodes suggest that some Western heroes were journalists, not just gun-fighters. And, while the program’s introduction sings the praises of “a few … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, 19th century, adventure, newspaper crusades, newspapers, political corruption, westerns | Leave a comment

History provides bad example for Gunsmoke newsies

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Bob Stepno

The six-gun adventures reported by 19th century writer Ned Buntline came up in conversation more than once in the 1952-1961 radio drama “Gunsmoke.” As an “adult” Western during the mature days of American radio drama, Gunsmoke distanced itself from the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, 19th century, adventure | Tagged | Leave a comment

Newspaper in the radio family living room

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Bob Stepno

In the 1940s, the newspaper habit was hard to break, as demonstrated in the “Seventeen Days” video of readers lining up to buy daily papers off the loading docks during a New York delivery strike, and New York’s mayor reading the comics … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, comedy, newspaper readers, newspapers, readers | 1 Comment

Newspaper stories behind a September Song

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Bob Stepno

Knickerbocker Holiday (Theater Guild on the Air, Dec. 1945). The hit song remained, but the “journalist” character disappeared in the radio adaptation of the musical “Knickerbocker Holiday” — one of many films that were presented in radio versions. The radio … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adaptations, free speech, historical figures, movies, New York City, tabloids | Leave a comment

Radio propaganda about Russia, Iran, 1953

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Bob Stepno

“I came here for Uncle Joe’s funeral, but I’m also here to learn about the new boy…” — Douglas of The World The release of more CIA records concerning the coup that re-installed the Shah of Iran in 1953 inspired … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, cold war, foreign correspondents, international, propaganda, reporters | Leave a comment