Category Archives: editors

Even 1950s cowboys-for-kids followed newspapers

Posted on February 27, 2020 by Bob Stepno

Wild Bill Hickok, the fictional version, sold plenty of breakfast cereal (“flaked, popped, shredded, ready-sweetened, every one’s a favorite…”) to 1950s kids on television and radio at the same time, with Guy Madison and Andy Devine as Bill and his … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, editors, historical figures, reporters, television, westerns | Leave a comment

Cagney, Dickens and ketchup save a newspaper

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/ScreenGuildTheater/Sgt_48-02-09_ep374_Johnny_Come_Lately.mp3 Local newspapers have been fighting for survival since the horse-and-buggy days when this story takes place. The 1943 film Johnny Come Lately starred James Cagney as an  out-of-work “tramp reporter” who both rescues and is rescued by an elderly … Continue reading →

Posted in 1900s, 1940s, adaptations, closing, editors, local news, newspaper crusades, newspapers, political corruption, reporters | Leave a comment

Another John Reed

Posted on November 29, 2019 by Bob Stepno

http://www.archive.org/download/Rogers_Of_The_Gazette/RogersOfTheGazette_530916_011_Illyria_Box_Lunch.mp3 The “Illyria Box Lunch” episode of “Rogers of the Gazette” is quite a package… Small-town journalism, small-town romance, mysterious thefts, a writing lecture, and a pickled peach… and all in a half hour! Newspaper editor Will Rogers Jr has … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, editors, local news, newspapers | Leave a comment

From news to folklore, talking to and for ‘the plain people’

Posted on September 6, 2019 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/COA_OTRR_Cert_CD1/Calv410623232JoelChandlerHarris.mp3 In addition to providing an oldtime radio dramatization of the life of newspaperman turned reteller of folktales Joel Chandler Harris, the Internet Archive has his works and biography, including the volume shown above. His red hair is mentioned several … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 19th century, Brotherhood, columnists, editors, folklore, playwrights, Race | Leave a comment

Reporting can be dangerous

Posted on August 29, 2019 by Bob Stepno

In this 1953 episode of the popular crime series “Mr. District Attorney,” a Daily Clarion reporter calls with news that he has uncovered a “Mister Big” crime boss. Gunshots heard over the phone and a visit to the newsroom by … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, crime, editors, newspapers, publishers, reporters | Leave a comment

Detective as fact-checker versus libel case

Posted on December 12, 2018 by Bob Stepno

Detective Philip Marlowe meets a whole Hollywood trade paper crew in “The Green Flame” from March 1949 … https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Philip_Marlowe_Singles/Philip_Marlowe_49-03-26_ep026_The_Green_Flame.mp3 It’s a colorful tale. We get matches that burn with a green flame, a note in blue wax pencil, and various … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, columnists, detectives, editors, newspapers, publishers | Leave a comment

Fatherly editor faces romantic son, Persian poetry

Posted on August 24, 2018 by Bob Stepno

When Ah, Wilderness, Eugene O’Neill’s comedy-drama about coming of age, was adapted for radio, Walter Huston starred as the newspaper-owner father whose poetry-besotted son is tempted by what passed for the wild side of life in 1906 Connecticut. https://archive.org/download/TheaterGuildontheAir/Tgoa_45-10-07_ep005-Ah_Wilderness.mp3 Theatre … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, 1940s, adaptations, comedy, Drama, editors, ethics, romance | 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

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 →

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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