Category Archives: newspapers

Soaps and Circulation

Posted on April 15, 2021 by Bob Stepno

An editor and “ace reporter” debated the news value and audience interest in a sensational murder case — versus coverage of the Korean War — in this December 1950 episode of “The Guiding Light” soap opera. http://otrrlibrary.org/OTRRLib/Library%20Files/G%20Series/Guiding%20Light/The%20Guiding%20Light%2050-12-19%20Newspaper%20Has%20Story%20About%20Murder.MP3 Joe Roberts of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, courtroom, crime, ethics, Korea, newspapers, reporters, reporting, sensationalism, soap opera | Leave a comment

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 | 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

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

A Daily Planet contest saves the world

Posted on November 7, 2019 by Bob Stepno

Less than a year after the United States dropped the first atomic bombs on Japan, young listeners to “The Adventures of Superman” radio serial heard of another dictatorship’s threat to destroy American cities with 100 planes loaded with atom bombs. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adventure, Clark Kent, detectives, Lois Lane, newspaper crusades, newspaper readers, newspapers, Perry White, reporters, reporting, Superman | 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

College trustee steamed over student press

Posted on January 11, 2019 by Bob Stepno

The witty — if a bit prone to puns and quotations — college president on “Halls of Ivy” had more than one anxious moment over campus news media, but supported the freedom of the press in good spirits, which must … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, columnists, comics, Drama, newspapers, 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