Category Archives: historical figures

A brief journalism career preceded his Nobel Peace Prize

Posted on July 27, 2020 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/DestinationFreedom/DF_49-02-20_ep034-Peace_Mediator.mp3 It’s not every dabbler in journalism who uncovers a murder, reports the crime despite a threat to his life, then goes on to get a doctorate from Harvard and years later win the Nobel Peace Prize, like Ralph Bunche. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, civil rights, historical figures | Leave a comment

Black Journalists Mattered, 1944

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Bob Stepno

“New World A-Coming” was a New York radio station WMCA series begun during World War II, based on a book by the same name by journalist Roi Ottley, exploring issues of patriotism and racial prejudice in the United States… including … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, civil rights, Drama, historical figures, journalism, Race, racial justice, reporters, stereotypes, true stories, World War II | Leave a comment

Hollywood royalty meets a journalism Royall

Posted on March 12, 2020 by Bob Stepno

The folks at DuPont’s Cavalcade of America made three attempts at telling the story of 19th century journalist Anne Royall, but the first one, in 1940, was something special. That’s despite her introduction as a “little old woman who lived … Continue reading →

Posted in 19th century, cavalcade, historical figures, media history, newspaper crusades, political corruption, women | Leave a comment

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

30 Years of NBC Radio plus Balloo in a Balloon, and me

Posted on September 10, 2019 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/BiographiesInSound560515RecollectionsAtThirty/Biographies%20in%20Sound%2056-05-15%20Recollections%20at%20Thirty.mp3 In 1956, NBC radio’s “Biographies in Sound” featured veteran radio news commentator H.V. Kaltenborn and radio satirists Bob & Ray in the episode above, paying tribute to the first 30 years of commercial radio — news, music, drama and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, Drama, historical figures, Korea, media history, radio, World War II | Leave a comment

A Century of Breaking the News

Posted on July 10, 2019 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Cavalcade_of_America_Singles/CALV_480712_576_Break_the_News.mp3 The historical radio series DuPont Cavalcade of America celebrated the first century of the Associated Press in 1948 by dramatizing scenes in the news cooperative’s past — from its first big error (signal flags were involved) through an effort … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 19th century, cavalcade, historical figures, wire services | Leave a comment

Zola on the air

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Lux_Radio_Theater_Singles/Lux_Radio_Theatre_39-05-08_218_The_Life_of_Emile_Zola.mp3 Today was the birthday of Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (1840-1902), and the birthday of a former editor of mine, a coincidence that reminded me that I have never gotten around to posting about the 1898 Dreyfus case and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, Europe, historical figures, journalism, movies | 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

Fighting slavery with a newspaper

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Bob Stepno

The long-running Jewish Theological Seminary radio series “The Eternal Light” usually drew from an older text, but it did feature a crusading newspaper in at least one episode, “The Rabbi with Ink-Stained Hands,” which the inspirational-drama program broadcast more than … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 19th century, editors, historical figures, publishers | Leave a comment

The typewriter, and the woman who invented a career

Posted on April 25, 2015 by Bob Stepno

The Reluctant Pioneer isn’t specifically about journalism, but it certainly is related — the story of the invention of the typewriter, told in traditional “who, what, when, where” order by the woman who first made it run. This radio drama — part of a … Continue reading →

Posted in 19th century, cavalcade, historical figures, technology | Leave a comment