Category Archives: editors

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

Mary liked editorials…

Posted on March 28, 2023 by Bob Stepno

In 1921, William Allen White writes an editorial when his 16-year-old daughter dies, not an obituary, and in 1954 Hallmark Hall of Fame uses his process of writing it to frame the story of her father, perhaps America’s most famous … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, columnists, Drama, editors, Hallmark, historical figures, journalism, media history, newspapers, publishers, writing | Leave a comment

Praying for a Free Press?

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Bob Stepno

“The Family Theater” was a classic old time radio show that ran from 1947 to 1957 with an unusual sponsor: Prayer. But it also found itself telling the stories of newspaper editors and reporters from time to time… So here … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, Colonial America, courtroom, editors, historical figures, History, journalism, Libel law, New York City, newspapers, political corruption, publishers, true stories, women | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Editor takes on publisher’s pal: Big Town 1937

Posted on June 25, 2022 by Bob Stepno

I’m finally catching up with the first year of “Big Town” with Edward G. Robinson… the long-running series that eventually adopted a “flaming sword” slogan paraphrased at the top of this blog. I have long been curious about the series’ … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, Big Town, crime, detectives, Drama, editors, ethics, journalism, tabloids, technology | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Newspaper fights exploitation of immigrants

Posted on June 22, 2021 by Bob Stepno

It was 1938 when the Daily Sentinel and publisher Britt Reid — as The Green Hornet — took on a Citizenship-Insurance Racket. https://otrrlibrary.org/OTRRLib/Library%20Files/G%20Series/Green%20Hornet,%20The/Green%20Hornet%2038-05-05%20(0234)%20Citizenship-Insurance%20Racket%20(aka-Political%20Racket).mp3 A corrupt ward politician, Joe Desmond, runs the scam, tricking naive immigrants into paying $100 for what … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, crime, editors, GreenHornet, journalism, newspaper crusades, Police, political corruption | 2 Comments

A Truman-era Front Page!?

Posted on March 28, 2021 by Bob Stepno

In 1948, ABC radio tried out an updated version of the Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur newsroom classic The Front Page as a 13-week summer-replacement series. Newsroom-background sounds set the opening scene, not unlike the start of the gender-shifted Front … Continue reading →

Posted in 1920s, 1940s, adaptations, detectives, Drama, editors, Hildy Johnson, newspapers, radio | 2 Comments

A Cowtown Newspaper War

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Frontier_Town_Singles/Frontier_Town_49-xx-xx_ep19_Five_Gun_Final.mp3 “Five-Gun Final,” an episode of “Frontier Town,” finds a wild west lawyer hero and his W.C. Fields sound-alike sidekick investigating a new newspaper that is trying to put the responsible competition out of business through the 19th century equivalent … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, competition, editors, publishers, westerns | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Post Office, the Press & Hoppy

Posted on May 2, 2020 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Hopalong_Singles/Hopalong%20Cassidy%2051-05-12%20%28071%29%20The%20Bandit%20of%20Blackton%20Bend.mp3 Plenty of communication media here, as Hopalong Cassidy and his comedy sidekick California track The Bandit of Blackton Bend … The crime is a Post Office robbery and murder, while the editor of the financially-troubled local newspaper is too … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, 19th century, editors, ethics, newspapers, westerns | Leave a comment

Newsman as canary in a coal mine?

Posted on April 15, 2020 by Bob Stepno

A newspaper takes on the dangers of coal mining — and the power of the local mine owner, a banker who threatens a takeover of the newspaper, in this vintage 1940 episode of Big Town, “Deep Death.” (Click the title … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, closing, Drama, editors, newspaper crusades, newspapers | Leave a comment

Newspapers, charity and a nose for news

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Bob Stepno

Wealthy owners have long been part of American newspapers, for better or for worse. This Green Hornet episode, Dead Man’s Topcoat, opens with a visitor asking newspaper publisher Britt Reid to write a check for $1,000 because a local charity … Continue reading →

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