Category Archives: reporters

Constitutional Reporting Becomes a Cliffhanger

Posted on October 19, 2025 by Bob Stepno

Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton are among the news sources interviewed by a thorough, and presumably thoroughly fictional, newspaper reporter trying to get the backstory on the US Constitution before its signing in 1787. While Tom Farrell is … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, Colonial America, historical figures, History, reporters, true stories | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Reporter calls it heartbreak

Posted on August 21, 2025 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/T5project/Theater%20Five%20650115%20120%20The%20Trophy%20VLQ.mp3 Reporters weren’t a regular feature of Theater Five … but a project aimed updating the archived copies of this 1964-1965 ABC Radio series has me listening for newspapers and newsies. I also listen for references to the “newspaper habit” … Continue reading →

Posted in 1960s, newspaper readers, newspapers, photographer, reporters, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Corrupt Politicians Threaten Partisan Reporter

Posted on April 5, 2025 by Bob Stepno

In May 1946, Lois Lane is invited to speak on behalf of a progressive candidate at a mass meeting, part of “the bitterest election campaign in the history of Metropolis” … and the story opens with a telephone threat, which … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adventure, comics, ethics, Jimmy Olsen, journalism, local news, Lois Lane, Lois Lane, newspaper bias, newspaper crusades, political corruption, progressive causes, reporters, reporting, Superman | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

D-Day Updated (again)

Posted on June 6, 2024 by Bob Stepno

Back when I was still teaching, I did annual D-Day updates of my JHeroes pages about the “Soldiers of the Press” radio series, which dramatized the lives of United Press reporters whose bylines appeared in newspapers across America and around … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, radio, reporters, reporting, Soldiers of the Press, United Press | Leave a comment

Divorce can be murder

Posted on May 16, 2024 by Bob Stepno

With more than 500 episodes of “The Whistler” in the Old Time Radio Researchers’ collection at the Internet Archive, you can hear its spooky-voiced narrator introduce suspenseful and ironic stories about people from many walks of life. For the story “Night … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, crime, Drama, newspapers, reporters, suspense, The Whistler, women | Leave a comment

Reporter as frame

Posted on January 24, 2024 by Bob Stepno

I will come back to say more about this program, but I think it is worth listening to as an example of a radio storytelling technique that uses a fictional magazine or newspaper reporter as a “wrapper” or frame to … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, civil rights, Drama, journalism, New York City, Race, reporters, stereotypes, true stories, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

“Front Page Farrell” wasn’t front page news on D-Day

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Bob Stepno

On D-Day, one of America’s most famous reporters, Front Page Farrell, was not involved in the war coverage at all… But, of course, Dave Farrell was fictional. Still, his June 7, 1944, episode above has hints of America’s mood on … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, Europe, radio, reporters, soap opera, Uncategorized, World War II | Leave a comment

A Clue in the Clouds

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Casey_Crime_Photographer_Singles/Casey44-02-2633TheClueInTheCloudscaseyPressPhotographer.mp3 Long before the advent of Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure, “The Clue in the Clouds” was a technology-rich episode of “Casey, Press Photographer,” more often known as “Crime Photographer,” one of the longest-running old-time radio dramatic series to feature … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, Casey, newspapers, photographer, reporters, women | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Who was that masked reporter?

Posted on September 11, 2021 by Bob Stepno

A 19th century cub reporter faces an extra challenge on a big story in the “Race to the Wire” episode of The Lone Ranger. His competition is the villainous Jay Collins, so mean he is rumored to have killed another … Continue reading →

Posted in 19th century, adventure, competition, ethics, historical figures, racial justice, reporters, westerns, wire services | Leave a comment

TV is news, and a risky business… Radio and newspapers say so

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Dragnet_Singles/Dragnet_51-08-09_113_The_Big_Screen.mp3 The Los Angeles Daily News is the real hero in this August 1951 “Dragnet” episode, The Big Screen, part of an Old Time Radio Researchers group collection at the Internet Archive… A reporter on the paper’s TV-radio beat has … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, columnists, newspapers, photographer, Police, reporters, reporting, television, true stories, undercover | Leave a comment