Author Archives: Bob Stepno

Unknown's avatar

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 ‘dangerous woman’ of the press

Posted on June 9, 2012 by Bob Stepno

By Bob StepnoDoris Johnston (later Doris Macauley), “a courageous woman correspondent who refused to give in to the Japs” is featured in this April 1945 episode of “Soldiers of the Press,” titled “Hideout.” Despite compressing more than a year on … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, foreign correspondents, reporters, women, World War II | 6 Comments

Pacific Action with Soldiers of the Press

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Bob Stepno

William Tyree was already in Hawaii as a United Press reporter when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. In this “Soldiers of the Press” episode a year later, he recalls being talked out of his first impulse after the attack — … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, foreign correspondents, true stories, World War II | Leave a comment

Approaching D-Day with Soldiers of the Press

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Bob Stepno

For June 6 last year, I pulled out a D-Day story from Soldiers of the Press along with the archived radio of actual newscasts and more than a dozen related links, including several about then United Press correspondent Walter Cronkite. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, foreign correspondents, reporters, true stories, Walter Cronkite, World War II | Leave a comment

First Purple Heart for Working Reporter

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Bob Stepno

For Memorial Day, part 2: United Press correspondent Leo S. Disher Jr. became the first combat reporter awarded the Purple Heart — citing “extraordinary heroism and meritorious performance of duty” for action on a day in November 1942 that started … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, foreign correspondents, World War II | 4 Comments

Soldier of the Press wins medal, launches series

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Bob Stepno

For Memorial Day weekend listening and reading: Veteran United Press reporter Henry T. Gorrell flew on an October 1942 bomber mission over Navarino Bay in Greece, wound up serving as a medic for shrapnel-scarred fliers — and had his experience … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, foreign correspondents, reporters, World War II | Leave a comment

A woman with a scoop

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Bob Stepno

“Scoop? You couldn’t scoop the insides out of a cantaloupe.” — her editor. The 1935 Bette Davis film promoted by that trailer, Front Page Woman, was brought to radio four years later with Paulette Goddard in the title role and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, reporters, women | Leave a comment

Newspaper says Yale cheats; Merriwell to the rescue

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Bob Stepno

Last time it was scrappy Boston reporters heading for Connecticut to cover Yale-Harvard baseball. This week we jump to another sport and season, to watch an investigative New Haven newspaperman get the scent of a sports scandal for a Front … Continue reading →

Posted in 1900s, 1940s, adaptations, ethics, journalism, newspapers, reporting, sports | Leave a comment

Newspapers Battle to Cover Merriwell at Yale

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Bob Stepno

The game on this 1904 cover was in Cambridge; the radio episode’s action is in New Haven; home-team advantage: Merriwell, but difficult for Boston press. “When a big story is involved, a good reporter doesn’t worry about what is or … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 19th century, adaptations, competition, journalism, newspaper stunts, newspapers, reporters, reporting, sports, technology | Leave a comment

Ernie Pyle in newspapers, film and radio

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Bob Stepno

Burgess Meredith as Ernie Pyle Making room on a bookshelf next to my old copy of Agee on Film, I re-read James Agee’s 1945 review of “The Story of G.I. Joe,” a piece titled simply “A Great Film.” I went looking … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, cavalcade, foreign correspondents, historical figures, Pulitzer Prize, reporters, World War II | Leave a comment

Clark Kent, meet John Carter!

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Bob Stepno

Journalists aren’t the only people who were sometimes stereotyped in old-time radio dramas or other popular culture forms of the 1930s and 1940s. In these closing episodes of a 15-part Superman adventure from September 1941, we find ourselves in Central … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, Clark Kent, stereotypes, Superman | Leave a comment