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.

Add a reporter, shift hemispheres; seeking the truth in rewrite

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Bob Stepno

I dropped a few of the Internet Archive’s “The Lives of Harry Lime” episodes onto my MP3 player to listen to on drives or walks in the park… and stumbled on another case of script-recycling, presumably by Harry Alan Towers, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, adaptations, detectives, foreign correspondents | Leave a comment

Happy Birthday, Mr. Pulitzer

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Bob Stepno

Publisher Joseph Pulitzer — of the New York World and St. Louis Post-Dispatch — was born on April 10 (in 1847), which is as good an excuse as any to offer two versions of his biography as presented to radio … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, 19th century, editors, New York City, newspaper crusades, publishers, Pulitzer Prize, true stories | Leave a comment

Radioplays and women in journalism

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Bob Stepno

Happy International Women’s Day! For some crime-solving by a non-fictional woman journalist, see last year’s International Women’s Day episode of JHeroes. This year, we’ll start with fiction and get back to reality — including women war correspondents —  before the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, 1940s, 19th century, adaptations, cavalcade, GreenHornet, historical figures, Lois Lane, true stories, women, World War II | Leave a comment

Covering the Waterfront

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Bob Stepno

Two of my former Emerson College students have wound up with new jobs back in Massachusetts at the New Bedford Standard-Times on Buzzard’s Bay, which is a fine excuse to post this item about the radio and film stories titled … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, 1950s, Drama, reporters | Leave a comment

Reporters aren’t always heroes: Ask Laura

Posted on February 23, 2013 by Bob Stepno

Despite the title of this blog, not all newspapermen (or women) in radio’s popular culture portrayals were heroes, although I think they were generally played more favorably on radio than in Hollywood movies. But I’ve just added a 45th title … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adaptations, columnists, crime, detectives, Drama, movies, romance | Leave a comment

Cartoonist Nast back in the headlines

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Bob Stepno

A new book about cartoonist Thomas Nast may introduce him to the current generation of journalism and visual storytelling fans. Imagine what he could have done with a modern graphic novel — or Pixar animation! Back in 1941, Cavalcade of … Continue reading →

Posted in 19th century, cavalcade, historical figures, newspaper crusades, political corruption | Leave a comment

A journalist romance for Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Bob Stepno

The Old Itch (Kit Gaynor) Who better to tell a tale of romance and deadlines than an actor named Frank Lovejoy? (I think he was much more convincing as dusk-to-dawn columnist Randy Stone than he had been as the Blue … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, Drama, foreign correspondents, romance | Leave a comment

Belated anniversary and welcome to visitors

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Bob Stepno

Greetings to members of the Metropolitan Washington Old-Time Radio Club, whose Mark Anderson put a nice mention of this site in the group’s Feb. 3 email newsletter. (Scroll down for a half-dozen episodes of the “Europe Confidential” series he mentioned.) … Continue reading →

Posted in j-heroes, Old Time Radio Groups | Leave a comment

Reporter’s manhunt in London & Tangier

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Bob Stepno

Old-fashioned shoeleather reporting gets a good demonstration in the Europe Confidential episode called The Raymond Shortly Affair, which takes reporter Mike Connoy from his Paris office to London and from there to a Tangier nightclub and some intrigue involving a … Continue reading →

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

An as-told-to tale of blackmail

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Bob Stepno

The best rewrite of a “Lives of Harry Lime” episode that I’ve heard so far, transformed into a “Europe Confidential” episode with the addition of a journalist narrator, is this tale of political blackmail in which a racketeer anti-hero comes … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, adaptations, Drama, Europe, foreign correspondents, Orson Welles | Leave a comment