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.

Halloween journalists on old-time radio

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Bob Stepno

The obvious choice for a Halloween-week radio show incorporating journalist characters in a dramatic production has to be Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater broadcast of “War of the Worlds.” Welles’ dramatic technique of imitating radio news alerts, simulating interruption of a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, Orson Welles, radio, science fiction, science reporting, sensationalism | 2 Comments

A Virginia reporter digs deeper

Posted on September 23, 2012 by Bob Stepno

Updated Sept. 15, 2020, see note at end This week’s “The Big Story” episode is a “journalism procedural” about a Richmond News Leader reporter who takes up the case of a man convicted of murder six years earlier. Exactly when … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, 1940s, crime, Race, racial justice, reporters, reporting, The Big Story, true stories | 2 Comments

The most beautiful newspaper reporter on radio

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Bob Stepno

“Give me a chance, just give me a chance, and I’ll be the best male Jane Arden in the racket.” — Jerry Delaney, the newspaper’s cub reporter Clearly, she was inspiring! Jane Arden was a long-running comic strip about an … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, crime, editors, journalism, movies, radio, reporters, soap opera, women | 2 Comments

Arsenic and Old Headlines

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Bob Stepno

As a former reporter for The Hartford Courant, I was intrigued to find a Courant story from long ago among episodes of the radio series “The Big Story,” and just had to track down the original criminal investigation. The broadcast … Continue reading →

Posted in 1900s, 1940s, movies, newspapers, The Big Story, true stories | Leave a comment

More police-press cooperation: “Here, take the gun…”

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Bob Stepno

“Here, take the gun; cover me…” — detective to journalist That’s not a sentence most newspaper reporters ever hear from a police officer, but it’s part of the dialogue from the thrilling conclusion of this week’s episode of “The Big … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 1950s, crime, Lois Lane, reporters, The Big Story, true stories | Leave a comment

Police-press cooperation: “You got a gun?”

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Bob Stepno

After a rather long preamble, you’ll find an episode below from “The Big Story,” a radio series that sometimes sounded like a “reporter-cop buddy movie.” (Actually, I don’t think such a genre ever existed on film, except when the reporter … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 1950s, crime, newspapers, Police, reporters, The Big Story, United Press, wire services | 3 Comments

Hearing the reporter’s voice in All the King’s Men

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Bob Stepno

In the movies of All the King’s Men, starring Broderick Crawford (1949) or Sean Penn (2006), charismatic Southern politician Willie Stark is obviously the main character. But for the only radio adaptation I’ve found of Robert Penn Warren’s novel — … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, journalism, movies, political corruption, Pulitzer Prize, reporters | Leave a comment

A journalist poet with a passion for croquet

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Bob Stepno

Journalism’s a shrew and a scold. I like her. She makes you sick, she makes you old. I like her. She’s daily trouble, storm and strife. She’s love and hate, and death and life. She ain’t no lady. She’s my … Continue reading →

Posted in 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, columnists, New York City, newspapers, radio | 1 Comment

A phone call, shoe-leather and compassion turn a story into a crusade

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Bob Stepno

Call Northside 777 “Well, it made a pretty good yarn, I guess. Y’know — ‘Mother slaves to save $5,000, offers it to clear her son.’ I told myself it was all in a day’s work…” — Reporter Mac McNeal About … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adaptations, editors, journalism, movies, newspaper crusades, radio, reporters, reporting | Leave a comment

Journalist Carried a Torch for Lighthouse Keeper

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Bob Stepno

by Bob Stepno “The Woman on Lime Rock” No, this isn’t  about Pulitzer’s World campaigning to build a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. It’s about a reporter for the competing New York Herald who, at least according to this … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 19th century, reporters, true stories | 1 Comment