Category Archives: true stories

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

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

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

The Zengers make news again

Posted on May 4, 2023 by Bob Stepno

John and Anna Zenger weren’t radio stars, but I’ve just found a third appearance for them… In an episode of the CBS series “You Are There.” It’s an entertaining “live news report,” as if the 1949 CBS radio news crew … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, Colonial America, editors, free speech, historical figures, History, Libel law, media history, New York City, political corruption, publishers, true stories | Leave a comment

One line at a time

Posted on April 14, 2023 by Bob Stepno

Ottmar Mergenthaler already had been the subject of a Cavalcade of America historical-biography radioplay in 1937, but here he is getting the Hallmark Hall of Fame treatment 16 years later… a story that includes a suspenseful beginning for anyone who … Continue reading →

Posted in 19th century, historical figures, History, newspapers, technology, true stories | Leave a comment

Praying for a Free Press?

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Bob Stepno

“The Family Theater” was a classic old time radio show that ran from 1947 to 1957 with an unusual sponsor: Prayer. But it also found itself telling the stories of newspaper editors and reporters from time to time… So here … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, Colonial America, courtroom, editors, historical figures, History, journalism, Libel law, New York City, newspapers, political corruption, publishers, true stories, women | Tagged , , | 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

Military radio tells Stars & Stripes History

Posted on July 11, 2021 by Bob Stepno

Back in 1947, “The Voice of the Army” used radio-drama techniques to tell the history of the U.S. armed forces newspaper, Stars & Stripes, begun during World War I. https://otrrlibrary.org/OTRRLib/Library%20Files/U-V%20Series/Voice%20Of%20The%20Army/Voice%20Of%20The%20Army%20xx-xx-xx%20(363)%20The%20Stars%20and%20Stripes-A%20Newspaper.mp3 The radio show itself was a post-World War II Army … Continue reading →

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News that depended on people

Posted on March 8, 2021 by Bob Stepno

… and people depending on a newspaper On International Women’s Day in a pandemic year, I’m listening to a radio play about a woman reporter on a medical story, Dorothy Patterson of the Paterson, N.J., Morning Call. While most episodes … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, children, Drama, local news, newspaper crusades, newspaper readers, The Big Story, true stories, women | Leave a comment

Black Journalists Mattered, 1944

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Bob Stepno

“New World A-Coming” was a New York radio station WMCA series begun during World War II, based on a book by the same name by journalist Roi Ottley, exploring issues of patriotism and racial prejudice in the United States… including … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, civil rights, Drama, historical figures, journalism, Race, racial justice, reporters, stereotypes, true stories, World War II | Leave a comment