Category Archives: 1940s

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

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 →

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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 →

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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