Category Archives: sensationalism

The Future of News Could Be Risky

Posted on June 9, 2021 by Bob Stepno

“Inside Story” by Richard Wilson, was a 1957 episode of the science fiction series “X-Minus-One.” It featured a reporter for “Galactic News Service” (GNS) investigating a mysterious epidemic on a colonized planet. (Curiously “X-Minus-One” was for part of its run … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, adventure, journalism, reporters, science fiction, sensationalism, 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

Halloween journalists on old-time radio

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Bob Stepno

The obvious choice for a Halloween-week radio show incorporating journalist characters in a dramatic production has to be Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater broadcast of “War of the Worlds.” Welles’ dramatic technique of imitating radio news alerts, simulating interruption of a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, Orson Welles, radio, science fiction, science reporting, sensationalism | 2 Comments

Tabloid Editors Repent!

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Bob Stepno

For students watching the 1931 film “Five Star Final” with Edward G. Robinson as a guilt-ridden tabloid editor, and for anyone looking for an audio alternative to the old-movie experience, here is something close to a radio sequel to the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, editors, ethics, sensationalism, tabloids | Leave a comment

Philadelphia wasn’t really the story, but radio kept telling it

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Bob Stepno

While not exactly a “journalism procedural,” the romantic comedy The Philadelphia Story does feature a reporter and photographer on the trail of a high-society wedding — with the reporter literally getting in over his head. (In the swimming pool, by … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, comedy, journalism, magazines, movies, newspapers, photographer, reporting, romance, sensationalism | Leave a comment

Rescuing the Tabloid Competition in Big Town

Posted on February 20, 2011 by Bob Stepno

Not only were newspaper reporters and editors cast as heroic characters in old-time radio dramas, they sometimes made heroic attempts to help the competition, no matter how bitter the rivalry. Perhaps that’s because they recognized newspaper journalism as a higher … Continue reading →

Posted in competition, crime, ethics, j-heroes, movies, newspapers, reporters, sensationalism | 1 Comment

Publisher dares to report

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Bob Stepno

http://otrrlibrary.org/OTRRLib/Library%20Files/G%20Series/Green%20Hornet,%20The/Green%20Hornet%2040-06-05%20(0448)%20Murder%20Seeks%20Its%20Victim%20(aka-Crandall%20And%20The%20Murder%20Ring).mp3 Britt Reid didn’t follow a traditional publisher’s job description, and I’m not just talking about his moonlighting as a masked crime fighter for more than 1,000 radio episodes in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, each one with a newsboy … Continue reading →

Posted in competition, ethics, GreenHornet, j-heroes, newspapers, publishers, radio, sensationalism, women | Leave a comment