Category Archives: 1940s

Newspaper comics on the radio

Posted on August 15, 2025 by Bob Stepno

This isn’t about journalism’s “newspaper heroes,” but another convergence of America’s 20th century “newspaper culture” and that mass media upstart, radio broadcasting — and the more recent “collector culture” of old time radio on the internet. The crossover medium here … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 1950s, children, comics, historical figures, newspapers | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Newspaper owner gets electric chair; he led hate group, ordered murders & kidnapping

Posted on April 8, 2025 by Bob Stepno

I usually avoid “spoilers” in writing about radio drama, not wanting to discourage folks from listening to the archived original broadcasts. But I also have old-newspaperman guilt about “burying the lede” and wanted to write the headline above. So today’s … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, Clark Kent, hate groups, progressive causes, propaganda, Race, racial justice, Superman, villains | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Corrupt Politicians Threaten Partisan Reporter

Posted on April 5, 2025 by Bob Stepno

In May 1946, Lois Lane is invited to speak on behalf of a progressive candidate at a mass meeting, part of “the bitterest election campaign in the history of Metropolis” … and the story opens with a telephone threat, which … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adventure, comics, ethics, Jimmy Olsen, journalism, local news, Lois Lane, Lois Lane, newspaper bias, newspaper crusades, political corruption, progressive causes, reporters, reporting, Superman | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

D-Day Updated (again)

Posted on June 6, 2024 by Bob Stepno

Back when I was still teaching, I did annual D-Day updates of my JHeroes pages about the “Soldiers of the Press” radio series, which dramatized the lives of United Press reporters whose bylines appeared in newspapers across America and around … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, radio, reporters, reporting, Soldiers of the Press, United Press | Leave a comment

Divorce can be murder

Posted on May 16, 2024 by Bob Stepno

With more than 500 episodes of “The Whistler” in the Old Time Radio Researchers’ collection at the Internet Archive, you can hear its spooky-voiced narrator introduce suspenseful and ironic stories about people from many walks of life. For the story “Night … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, crime, Drama, newspapers, reporters, suspense, The Whistler, women | Leave a comment

Reporter as frame

Posted on January 24, 2024 by Bob Stepno

I will come back to say more about this program, but I think it is worth listening to as an example of a radio storytelling technique that uses a fictional magazine or newspaper reporter as a “wrapper” or frame to … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, civil rights, Drama, journalism, New York City, Race, reporters, stereotypes, true stories, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Zengers make news again

Posted on May 4, 2023 by Bob Stepno

John and Anna Zenger weren’t radio stars, but I’ve just found a third appearance for them… In an episode of the CBS series “You Are There.” It’s an entertaining “live news report,” as if the 1949 CBS radio news crew … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, Colonial America, editors, free speech, historical figures, History, Libel law, media history, New York City, political corruption, publishers, true stories | Leave a comment

High school editor gets distracted

Posted on April 11, 2023 by Bob Stepno

She’s a high-school-age Shirley Temple, but distracted by playboy artist Cary Grant. It’s The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer, the 1947 Hollywood hit adapted in 1949 for Lux Radio Theater, with two of its original stars. (Myrna Loy, as Shirley’s … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adaptations, comedy, courtroom, students, teenagers | Leave a comment

“Front Page Farrell” wasn’t front page news on D-Day

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Bob Stepno

On D-Day, one of America’s most famous reporters, Front Page Farrell, was not involved in the war coverage at all… But, of course, Dave Farrell was fictional. Still, his June 7, 1944, episode above has hints of America’s mood on … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, Europe, radio, reporters, soap opera, Uncategorized, World War II | Leave a comment

Celebrity Interview Goes Wrong

Posted on February 15, 2023 by Bob Stepno

There’s really no journalism practiced in this episode of “A Date with Judy” from April 3, 1945, although the teenage heroine is going off to do a celebrity interview with actor Charles Boyer, in town for a wartime Red Cross … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, comedy, teenagers | Leave a comment