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.

National Radio Day!

Posted on August 20, 2011 by Bob Stepno

While this site, blog, podcast etc. is mostly about radio of the past, I just noticed that this Saturday is National Radio Day… a good reminder to visit TODAY’s radio news broadcasters and programmers who value the storytelling power of … Continue reading →

Posted in journalism, radio, true stories | Leave a comment

Philadelphia wasn’t really the story, but radio kept telling it

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Bob Stepno

While not exactly a “journalism procedural,” the romantic comedy The Philadelphia Story does feature a reporter and photographer on the trail of a high-society wedding — with the reporter literally getting in over his head. (In the swimming pool, by … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, comedy, journalism, magazines, movies, newspapers, photographer, reporting, romance, sensationalism | Leave a comment

Covering the world for the World, after the World was gone

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Bob Stepno

I’ve just caught up with the Old Time Radio Researchers Group library updates from 11 months ago and discovered that the group’s collection of “Douglas of the World” stored at the Internet Archive now has four episodes — a 300 … Continue reading →

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

Radio adds Front Page Drama to small-town news

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Bob Stepno

Here’s one from the journalist’s “be careful what you wish for” department. Rand’s Esoteric OTR‘s collection of Front Page Drama episodes captures a 1930s-50s radio show that was a fascinating crossover between radio, newspapers and public relations. The program in … Continue reading →

Posted in Hearst, reporters, true stories, women | Leave a comment

Slightly Dangerous: When a newspaper deludes itself and readers

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Bob Stepno

MGM Theater of the Air didn’t get the original movie cast for its 1950 radio production of the screwball comedy Slightly Dangerous, but Celeste Holm made a charming Peggy Evans (or “Miss X”) — a lunch-counter waitress so bored with … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptations, comedy, ethics, movies, newspapers, romance | Leave a comment

Foreign Correspondent tilts windmills in classic spy drama

Posted on July 10, 2011 by Bob Stepno

The 1940 Alfred Hitchcock film “Foreign Correspondent” was nominated for a half-dozen Academy Awards, which more than qualified it for a radio adaptation on Squibb’s Academy Award Theater radio series in 1946. (Actually winning an Oscar wasn’t required; in fact, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adaptations, foreign correspondents, international, journalism, movies, propaganda, World War II | Leave a comment

Blood on the Sun, on the radio and on screen

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Bob Stepno

Portraying hand-to-hand combat was never one of radio’s strong points, but this mixture of journalism and judo is worth a bow, at least as a vehicle to discuss some of the quirks of radio’s approach to movie adaptations. As a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, foreign correspondents, historical figures, movies, newspapers, reporting, World War II | Leave a comment

D-Day — Real and Dramatized

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Bob Stepno

Thanks to Old Time Radio Researchers collections at the Internet Archive here are two versions of what June 6, 1944, sounded like to the World War II era listening audience. The first presents 45 minutes of selections from the actual … Continue reading →

Posted in foreign correspondents, historical figures, international, reporters, true stories, World War II | 2 Comments

Journalists cutting deals, keeping secrets

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Bob Stepno

https://otrrlibrary.org/OTRRLib/Library%20Files/G%20Series/Green%20Hornet,%20The/Green%20Hornet%2038-05-24%20(0239)%20There%20Was%20A%20Crooked%20Man.mp3 Is a newspaper journalist the people’s watchdog or a government lapdog? How observant should a reporter be? And what should a city editor have for lunch? This Green Hornet radio episode, There Was a Crooked Man, is a place … Continue reading →

Posted in editors, ethics, GreenHornet, journalism, newspapers, publishers, reporters | 1 Comment

Sabra Cravat, Frontier Editor

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Bob Stepno

In both versions of the movie “Cimarron,” the visual spectacle of the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush may have stolen the show. But in two radio adaptations, the story all belonged to Irene Dunne‘s portrayal of Sabra Cravat, frontier wife, mother … Continue reading →

Posted in 19th century, adaptations, cavalcade, editors, Hallmark, journalism, movies, newspapers, radio, women | Leave a comment