Category Archives: reporters

A dark “Christmas Holiday” on radio

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Bob Stepno

Despite the title, “Christmas Holiday” is no Santa-and-sleighbells yule feature, but a “film noir” drama with a newspaper reporter as a pivotal character: He starts out on the shady side, does a couple of favors for the lead characters, and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adaptations, crime, holidays, movies, reporters | Leave a comment

Radio propaganda about Russia, Iran, 1953

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Bob Stepno

“I came here for Uncle Joe’s funeral, but I’m also here to learn about the new boy…” — Douglas of The World The release of more CIA records concerning the coup that re-installed the Shah of Iran in 1953 inspired … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, cold war, foreign correspondents, international, propaganda, reporters | Leave a comment

Reporter, actress, find love in “Next Time…”

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Bob Stepno

Next Time We Love, a 1936 “struggling marriage” melodrama with a young James Stewart as a reporter and Margaret Sullavan as his aspiring actress wife, was adapted for radio repeatedly, including versions with Stewart and the very different Jimmy Cagney as … Continue reading →

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“I am not ‘in the news’…” — The Couple Next Door

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Bob Stepno

Journalism students should find food for ethical thought in this encounter between a newspaper reporter and “The Couple Next Door.”  Prelude: Little Betsy got a bad mark at school; all the children laughed at her… and just for repeating something … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, 1960s, children, comedy, ethics, newspaper readers, reporters | Leave a comment

Covering the Waterfront

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Bob Stepno

http://youtu.be/HvGSd4JAdnM Two of my former Emerson College students have wound up with new jobs back in Massachusetts at the New Bedford Standard-Times on Buzzard’s Bay, which is a fine excuse to post this item about the radio and film stories … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, 1950s, Drama, reporters | Leave a comment

Journalist frames art-theft story

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Bob Stepno

Listening to 1951’s Orson Welles “The Lives of Harry Lime” in parallel with the 1957 radio series “Europe Confidential” can be a surreal experience — and never more than in this episode about a stolen painting that changes from Rubens … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, adaptations, Europe, foreign correspondents, Orson Welles, reporters | Leave a comment

Orson Welles Impersonates a Journalist

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Bob Stepno

No this isn’t about “Citizen Kane.” It’s about one of the famous actor’s returns to radio in the 1950s. (Before his first film, he was famous on radio — for everything from “The Shadow” to that Mercury Theater “War of … Continue reading →

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Serial killer and journalist

Posted on December 8, 2012 by Bob Stepno

“The Hands of Mr. Ottermole,” a frequently anthologized classic murder mystery by Thomas Burke, was adapted for radio in the 1940s by the anthology series Suspense and Radio City Playhouse — each with its own twist on the tale. Both versions involve a suspicious newspaper reporter … Continue reading →

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Crime Photographer Thanksgivings

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Bob Stepno

Working holidaysCasey, Crime Photographer was a weekly fixture on CBS radio for a dozen years, 1943-55, and listeners probably felt they were dropping into the Blue Note Cafe along with the hero and his reporter friend Ann Williams — even … Continue reading →

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A detective tries to save a reporter’s life

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Bob Stepno

The long-running “Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar” series put the Hartford-based insurance investigator on the case of a newspaper reporter friend in a 1956 broadcast. Called “The Big Scoop Matter,” it has a couple of common newspaper-drama themes: a reporter with … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, crime, detectives, reporters | Leave a comment