Category Archives: reporting

True “Big Story” stories told

Posted on September 29, 2026 by Bob Stepno

“The Big Story,” old time radio’s series that dramatized published news stories by real-life newspaper reporters is having its own story told. Dr. Joseph Webb, a broadcasting  historian who has contributed to numerous old-time radio preservation projects, including an extensive … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 1950s, crime, History, Old Time Radio Groups, old time radio publications, reporting, The Big Story, true stories | Tagged , , , | 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

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

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 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

The Case of Exploding Dolls

Posted on October 3, 2019 by Bob Stepno

The opening episode of this six-part Superman story from 1940 shows reporters Kent and Lane on assignment, tracking down a fatal industrial explosion at an unlikely place — a doll factory. Hans Honin’s Doll Factory, episode one Hans Honin’s Doll … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adventure, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Perry White, reporters, reporting, Superman, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Flood waters tempt newsman to murder

Posted on March 23, 2019 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Whistler_Singles/Whistler_48-09-29_ep329_Conspiracy.mp3 The Whistler episode Conspiracy. from Sept. 29, 1948, opens with a reporter reading a newspaper murder story in a diner, and speculating about the motivation of killers. Then he gets a call from his editor, sending him out into … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, crime, Drama, reporters, reporting, suspense, The Whistler, villains | 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

Newspaper legwork, 70 years ago on radio

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Bob Stepno

In the continuing story “Pennies for Plunder,” the Daily Planet and Superman waged a month-long battle against a punchboard lottery racket, throughout December 1947, in the era when Superman was a daily 15 minute cliffhanger radio serial (and seller of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adventure, Jimmy Olsen, journalism, newspaper crusades, Perry White, reporting, Superman, Uncategorized | Leave a comment