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.

Spring training and the Green Hornet

Posted on April 30, 2018 by Bob Stepno

The Hornet Bats for a Pitcher Here’s a Green Hornet episode I haven’t written about yet: The 1948 tale’ s title “The Hornet Bats for a Pitcher” sums it up… Listed as June 01, 1948, episode 861 in a log … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adventure, GreenHornet, sports | Leave a comment

No paper dolls on radio, just a pioneer newswoman role model

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Bob Stepno

Announcer’s introduction: The Adventures of Jane Arden, a thrilling drama of a fearless girl reporter, the most beautiful woman in the newspaper world. Jane Arden, star reporter for The Bulletin, important newspaper of a big American city. It has taken … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, adventure, comics, journalism, newspapers, reporters, women | Leave a comment

Press, police & femme fatale

Posted on April 15, 2018 by Bob Stepno

http://otrrlibrary.org/OTRRLib/Library%20Files/G%20Series/Green%20Hornet,%20The/Green%20Hornet%2044-01-15%20(0636)%20Lowrey's%20Big%20Moment.mp3 It has been a while since I have written about old-time radio’s portrayal of the relationship between newspaper reporters and police officers. This 1944 Green Hornet episode goes beyond the series’ usual scenes of camaraderie between the cops and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adventure, GreenHornet, reporters | Leave a comment

Ghostwriting for equal rights

Posted on March 19, 2018 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/DestinationFreedom/DF_49-06-19_ep050-Ghost_Editor.mp3 “Ghost Editor” is a well-dramatized biography of Roscoe Dunjee, who founded the Black Dispatch, the first African American newspaper in 1915 Oklahoma City. Actor Fred Pinkard narrates the series as Dunjee in this episode of the “Destination Freedom” African … Continue reading →

Posted in 1900s, 1940s, 1950s, civil rights, editors, historical figures, newspaper crusades, newspapers, racial justice, reporting, undercover | Leave a comment

Mann of the Press at Bay

Posted on March 17, 2018 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Suspense_Singles_By_Year_1952/Suspense_521124_488_Man_Alive_128-44_28478_29m41s.mp3 From November 1952, this is no Thanksgiving story… A San Francisco newspaper columnist gets involved with bad Italian accents, puns on his name (“Mann”), a picture postcard and a mystery. Supposedly based on a true story, this episode of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, adventure, suspense, true stories, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A Gentleman and Lady of the Press

Posted on March 16, 2018 by Bob Stepno

http://otrrlibrary.org/OTRRLib/Library%20Files/F%20Series/Forecast/Forecast%2040-07-16%20(02)%20The%20American%20Theater%20-%20The%20Gentleman%20From%20Indiana%20(Actually%20400715).mp3 The 1940 CBS radio series “Forecast” was a summer showcase for ideas for new series… what television later called “pilots,” and a drama about an Indiana newspaperman was part of the series’ first edition. However the newspaperman story wasn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adaptations, editors, newspaper crusades, novels, romance, women | Leave a comment

Two Reporters Conspire in Moscow

Posted on February 27, 2018 by Bob Stepno

Radio’s dramatic adventure series like “Suspense” and “Escape” sometimes relied on journalist characters as narrators, doing what reporters do — telling a story mostly from the outside. In “Two If By Sea,” the derring-do is their own. Even in peacetime, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, adventure, Europe, foreign correspondents, international, reporters, romance, Russia | Leave a comment

Her guy Friday? What a Woman!

Posted on February 20, 2018 by Bob Stepno

Rosalind Russell, ace fast-talking newshound of “His Girl Friday,” was back in a journalism-related movie a few years later in “What a Woman!” — but this time she was the one under the reportorial magnifying glass. “I’m not a cub … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, magazines, reporters, women | Leave a comment

Love is News for Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 13, 2018 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Lux_Radio_Theater_Singles/Lux_Radio_Theatre_40-09-16_273_Love_Is_News.mp3 “He’s a newspaperman, he’ll ruin his career,” the leading lady observes, when Bob Hope, playing a reporter, threatens to go into show business. “Love Is News” was a 1937 romantic-comedy film starring Tyrone Power, Loretta Young, and Don Ameche. … Continue reading →

Posted in romance, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Photo-snatching & Gunsmoke

Posted on January 31, 2018 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Gunsmoke_Singles/Gunsmoke%2052-07-26%20%28014%29%20Gentleman%27s%20Disagreement.mp3 In 1952, the first episode of the classic adult western “Gunsmoke” began with Marshal Matt Dillon dictating the text for a wanted poster to Mr.Hightower, Dodge City’s printer and newspaper editor. The enterprising editor had already snitched a tintype … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, adventure, editors, ethics, westerns | Leave a comment