Category Archives: The Big Story

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

A Virginia reporter digs deeper

Posted on September 23, 2012 by Bob Stepno

Updated Sept. 15, 2020, see note at end This week’s “The Big Story” episode is a “journalism procedural” about a Richmond News Leader reporter who takes up the case of a man convicted of murder six years earlier. Exactly when … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, 1940s, crime, Race, racial justice, reporters, reporting, The Big Story, true stories | 2 Comments

Arsenic and Old Headlines

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Bob Stepno

As a former reporter for The Hartford Courant, I was intrigued to find a Courant story from long ago among episodes of the radio series “The Big Story,” and just had to track down the original criminal investigation. https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Big_Story_Singles/Big_Story_The_47-12-10_037_TCOT_Final_Curtain_Aubrey_Maddock.mp3 The … Continue reading →

Posted in 1900s, 1940s, movies, newspapers, The Big Story, true stories | Leave a comment

More police-press cooperation: “Here, take the gun…”

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Bob Stepno

“Here, take the gun; cover me…” — detective to journalist That’s not a sentence most newspaper reporters ever hear from a police officer, but it’s part of the dialogue from the thrilling conclusion of this week’s episode of “The Big … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 1950s, crime, Lois Lane, reporters, The Big Story, true stories | Leave a comment

Police-press cooperation: “You got a gun?”

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Bob Stepno

After a rather long preamble, you’ll find an episode below from “The Big Story,” a radio series that sometimes sounded like a “reporter-cop buddy movie.” (Actually, I don’t think such a genre ever existed on film, except when the reporter … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 1950s, crime, newspapers, Police, reporters, The Big Story, United Press, wire services | 3 Comments