Category Archives: newspapers

College trustee steamed over student press

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

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

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No paper dolls on radio, just a pioneer newswoman role model

Announcer’s introduction: The Adventures of Jane Arden, a thrilling drama of a fearless girl reporter, the most beautiful woman in the newspaper world. Jane Arden, star reporter for The Bulletin, important newspaper of a big American city. It has taken … Continue reading

Posted in 1930s, adventure, comics, journalism, newspapers, reporters, women | Leave a comment

Ghostwriting for equal rights

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

Two-fisted editor KO’s reform school scandal

News about a real-life judge sentenced to jail for taking kickbacks from a for-profit jail reminded me of this Big Town episode, with its crusading newspaper editor sending a 17-year-old copyboy undercover to expose a corrupt and barbaric reformatory. “A … Continue reading

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Landing a Newspaper Job; Cameraman Tells All

Some of my favorite “newsroom scenes” in old radio shows involve a young reporter trying to land a job. Here’s the first of a couple of episodes where the job-hunter is a would-be photojournalist. This 1947 “Crime Photographer” episode put the … Continue reading

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A young reporter’s ethical growing pains

Listening to more of Mickey Rooney’s unsuccessful “Shorty Bell” series from 1948 — after reading obituaries and tributes to him this week — I can’t help wondering what the audience wanted from his radio newspaper-journalism vehicle: A lighter family-friendly “Andy … Continue reading

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Mickey Rooney’s newspaper days — on radio

Mickey Rooney, who died Sunday at 93, was most famous for playing scrappy, funny and musical young men in the 1930s and ’40s.His starring role in this spring 1948 radio drama didn’t have any “Hey kids, let’s put on a … Continue reading

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Classified ads become news

Page one news wasn’t the only part of the newspaper to make it into radio dramas. This story begins in the back pages — the classified ad section. That’s where Lenore Case, secretary to the editor of The Daily Sentinel, … Continue reading

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A Christmas story – Superman versus the Nielsen racket

December 1946 — The bad guy in this Superman story isn’t threatening the world, but he could cost Clark Kent his job, and right before Christmas too! Yes, as the headline above suggests, the villain is a racketeer named Nielsen, … Continue reading

Posted in 1940s, adventure, Clark Kent, comics, editors, Jimmy Olsen, journalism, newspaper crusades, newspapers, Perry White, reporting, Superman, World War II | Leave a comment