Rare News and Current Event Shows

When the Federal Communications Commission began issuing broadcast licenses to commercial radio station, part of the mandate was that the broadcasts should be of service to the community.Radio became a way for news to be reported almost as soon as it happened, and the people who were there to report on events found that they were also in a unique position to comment on what was happening.

Editorial pieces were always a part of print news, so it is little wonder that broadcast news people would want to paint world events from their own perspective. Beyond simply reporting the news, this opinion pieces could become news on their own.

Ever since evolution bestowed mankind with his large brain, he has had an insatiable desire to fill it with information, and the most satisfying information to fill a brain with is news about other people. When wandering bands of hunter/gatherers met, so long as both groups were well fed and not directly competing with each other, the two camps would join and share information about where the hunting was good or bad, when and where a certain type of berry would be ripe, and news about other groups they had encountered.

When folks began to settle into villages to support agriculture, news from the outside world had to come from wandering clergymen, traders, and other travelers. Wandering minstrels who hoped to sing for their supper often found that the information they carried about the wide world was better received than their songs.

What is news? By the strictest definition, "news" are bits of information which are new. Many theorists hold that news is a commodity, and the value of that commodity can be evaluated in many ways. The newness of the news is an important factor; if a story is old or everyone has already heard it then it becomes just a story, or in some instances, history. Another important consideration in the value of news is its relevance to those receiving it. This is why network radio gained so much importance during the Second World War. In the unlikely event that a certain household did not have a member serving in the conflict, they surely knew someone who was, and even if they were simply sweeping the base sidewalks across the country, the sooner the greater conflict was resolved, the sooner they could come home, and life could return to normal.

The items in this collection are no longer news, of course. In many cases, they are important historical artifacts. If not, hopefully, they are at least amusing stories. Their relevance to current audiences has less to do with the facts than the way they were reported.

The news industry in modern society competes with the Internet and Social Media. It is not uncommon that before a traditional news outlet has a chance to discover, research, write, and publish a story, the news may have already exploded through social media feeds. As important as it is for news to be accurate, its value as a commodity means getting it out first, often at the expense of accuracy.

Radio during the Golden Age was the Internet of its day. It is not for us to evaluate whether reporters of the period displayed more or less integrity than their modern counterparts, we merely want to point out that for as much as the news business has changed, in many ways it stays the same.

• The American Forum of the Air, 1934-1956, Mutual, NBC. The first public affairs panel discussion program on the air. Topics ranged from the New Deal to Fascism, the post-War housing crisis, War-time rationing, the problems of small business, and others. Moderator Theodore Granik began his radio career while a law student working at Gimbel's Department Store. The store had its own radio station, WGBS, and in addition to reporting sports stories, he developed his own program, Law for the Layman. After graduating and hanging his shingle in Washington, D.C., his Forum began to attract the attention of Congress, and debates which began on the air often continued on the floor of the Capitol.
• America's Town Meeting of the Air, May 30, 1935, NBC. The National Broadcasting Company's early attempt at a public affairs panel discussion program was greenlighted as a six-week experiment, it ran for 21 years. Originating from Town Hall in New York, the program attempted to recreate an old-time town meeting, one of the most basic and purest expressions of the democratic process. The celebrity panelists faced off with each other as well as the audience in an in-studio question and answer period. The program also encouraged the formation of "listener clubs" where participants would get together to hear the show and then discuss the issues.
• Ask Congress, December, 1957, a public service program the brings members of the House of Representatives meet with members of their constituency, the citizens are selected for the program based on their participation in civic organizations.
• B-29 Crash in Bermuda, November 20, 1949, Mutual. Miss Edith Mizarand reports from Bermuda in this special bulletin about an Air Force B-29 "Super Fortress" which went down in the Atlantic with a crew of 20. Eighteen of the airmen were rescued 75 hours later.
• Bing Crosby interviewed by Edward R. Murrow on "Person to Person", 1954, CBS. The great newsman visits and asks some penetrating questions at the crooner's home. Murrow rose to prominence as a newsman when he developed a European Bureau for CBS during the earliest days of WWII.
• By the People, 1956, Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization syndication. A fictionalized drama of a reporter evaluating the fight against a Southern California wildfire to see how the Forest Service is prepared to combat an atomic attack.
•  Carl Deacon Moore's "Jasper Junction Journal", February 1944, WLW Cincinnati. A short spoof of radio news broadcasters.
•  The Carol Adams Show, July 4, 1949, Syndicated. Ms. Adams discusses women's issues, which, at this point in history, including having enough food for the Independence Day Holiday and presenting dessert pancakes.
• Cavalcade of 1948, United Press Syndication. Recap of the ten biggest stories of the year, including Truman's Election, the Berlin Airlift, the high cost of living, Ms. Kasenkina's escape from the Russian Consulate, the assassination of Gandhi, the death of Babe Ruth, the Chinese Civil War, a US Spy investigation, the founding of Israel, and the birth of Prince Charles.
• The City, March 9, 1947, CBS. "An Impression for Radio", narrator Frank Goss guides us through the hustle and bustle of a modern metropolis to find the humanity which calls the City "home".
• City Hospital, CBS orig, AFRTS rebroadcast. Dramatized reports of the state of modern medicine.
• Cold War "Red Scare" Reports. The expression "Cold War" generally refers to the post-WWII struggle between the United States and Soviet Russia for world domination. The War was "cold" because the military might of the two super-powers never directly faced each other in the field, however, both supported their emerging-world allies in several "proxy war". The Cold War was as much, perhaps more, of an intellectual conflict as a military one. Perhaps the most insidious manifestation of this was the rise of McCarthyism during the Second Red Scare.
• Constance Bennett Calls on You, September 1945. Ms. Bennett reports on the state of fashion and good taste, using herself as the standard. She was billed as "America's Foremost Authority on People".
• Corner News Stand, April 16, 1948, ABC Audition. Radio was in direct competition with newspapers in the delivery of news and information to the general public. One advantage of the papers was that the headlines could be discussed and analyzed by the man on the street at the newsstand. This program dramatizes that concept.
• Conversations, NBC, Late 1950s, From the host of Information, Please!, Clifton Fadiman, Conversations celebrates the art of fine conversation. The guests are every bit as erudite and entertaining as the quiz show.
• Crisco Radio Newspaper, February 29, 1944. The shortening manufacturer presents housewife commentary by Bernardine Flynn while Alan Jackson reads War news.
• Cross Section USA, Late 1940s, CBS News discusses important issues of the day with a selection of persons from across the nation who represent agriculture, labor and manufacturing.
• D Day Plus Two, June 8, 1944. The run-up to the invasion of Europe at Normandy was shrouded in the deepest secrecy, including a news blackout. As Allied Forces advanced through France in the early days, reports of progress began to filter out toward the home front.
• Deadline Mystery, August 1947, ABC. A report on the Post-War housing crisis is bundled with a hard-boiled murder mystery. Steve Dunne stars as Lucky Larson.
• Distinguished Guest, October 27, 1946, WGN Chicago. Every Sunday afternoon, WGN welcomes a unique and interesting visitor to their Chicago studio. In this episode, His Holiness Mar Eshai Shimun, leader of the Assyrian people appears to discuss issues concerning the Middle East.
• Eloise Mays Political Ad, 1950. Miss Mays is running for Marin County Education Supervisor and plugs her years of experience as a primary school teacher as working with the County Education Board. Miss Mays passed away as the school year was starting in 1978.
• Exploring the Unknown, 1947, Mutual origination, AFRS rebroadcasts. Dramas which present the latest advances in science in the public interest.
• The Farm and Garden Program, Date undetermined, WCOP Boston. Early morning music and news program featuring stories and report of interest to Massachusetts area farmers and their small-scale gardening friends, including vegetable market reports. The show's "color man" is the owner of one of the largest carrot farms in the world.
• The Farm Report, 1947, Kansas. Sponsored by Staley's Hog Uncles Feed. Discussions of whether meat rationing by the Federal Government will continue.
• Five Star Final, March 30, 1936, an Inner City Presentation, sponsored by the Remington Rand Typewriter Company. An evening report of a man who hired an architect to design his mausoleum and is subsequently murdered, election day in Nazi Germany, and the Lindbergh baby kidnapper.
• The Great Challenge, CBS, 1958-59, A series of symposiums that bring together outstanding leaders from many fields to consider urgent problems facing the nation in a rapidly changing world. Moderated by Howard K. Smith and Eric Sevareid.
• H.V. Kaltenborn Edits the News, October 1939, CBS. After learning the news reporting business for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Kaltenborn helped to establish the credibility of radio news reporting by covering the Spanish Civil War, sometimes on the front lines of the fighting. Kaltenborn's reports helped to convince the American people to move away from Isolationism.
• Hello Sucker, 1952, WMAQ Chicago. A public service program exposing some of the scams which Windy City bad-guys might try to foist upon honest shoppers.
• Henry J. Taylor, November 1946, Mutual, sponsored by General Motors. Mr. Taylor was an economist, author, commentator, and politician, whose views were shaped as much by his extensive travels as his time in academia. Some years after this broadcast, he was appointed US Ambassador to Switzerland.
• The Hidden Revolution, CBS Public Affairs Department in the late 1950s and early 1960s, explores important social trends in US culture, like the increase in leisure time, the constant threat of nuclear war, and the American propensity for "moving on". Hosted by Edward R. Murrow.
• How About That? 1949, The Fought Company syndication. Host Gregory Abbott discusses signs of spring, including the "Overhand Joe" pitching machine at Baseball's Spring Training, color-coded garden flower seeds, and how golf courses influence suburban lawn sales.
• Hudson Auto Show, 1952, Syndicated. A radio display case of the new Hudson Automobiles, with discussions of "step-down" interiors, modern automotive construction, and crash protection. Hudson's at this time were beginning to dominate the stock car racing circuit, although the last Hudson would roll off the assembly line in 1957.
• Hugh Ross Interview, March 29, 1951, WHAS Louisville. Mr. Ross is the choral director of the Schola Cantorum in New York. He visits Louisville regularly to work on cultural projects for the Louisville Fund.
• I Want to Come Back, 1941, Audition programs. Broadcast from within the walls of San Quentin Prison, the program showcases stories of reformed felons who have paid their debt to society but cannot receive parole unless there is a job waiting for them. As noble as the program's intentions seemed, three audition programs were made but it was apparently never picked up for regular broadcast.
• I Was a Convict, 1947, Mutual Network, in cooperation with the American Society for the Prevention of Crime. Society chairman Edward J. Lucas explores the wide difference between Law Enforcement and Crime Prevention as he interviews felons after they have been released from the penitentiary system to discover what factors led them to a life of crime.
• In Your Own Words, NBC, 1955. The new technology of magnetic tape recording allows host Martin Weldon to hear the tragic stories of real people in their native environment.
• Interesting People in the News, 1935, Crowell Publishing, RCA Syndication. Sumner Blossom, the editor of The American Magazine, reports on interesting and influential personalities he has met during his career.
• Interview with Las Vegas Prostitutes, November 11, 1945. Unidentified reporter talking to sex workers in a Nevada brother just after the War. The girls seem unashamed of their profession but are generally unforthcoming about the details of their business. Be ready for a lot of giggling.
• The Jergens Journal, December 7, 1941, the Blue Network. During gossip reporter Walter Winchell's 18-year association with The Jergens Journal, he was considered the most influential and powerful reporter in the nation. Although reputed to be a journalist, Winchell was more of a showman. His early report on the attack on Pearl Harbor does not get every fact (historically) correct but succeeds in raising the fighting spirit of the listening audience.
• Life and the World, NBC, 1957-58, A news magazine program, correspondents present stories from around the world. The program uses taped interviews and reports which are edited in the studio.
• WWAM "Tell and Sell", June 13, 1979, CBS affiliate, Cadillac, Michigan. Before Craigslist made selling your stuff over the Internet as simple as a few clicks, one of the easiest ways to let people know you had an item for sale was to have it announced over your local radio station. This broadcast includes several callers hoping to get a good price for their cars or attract shoppers to their garage sales. The end of the broadcast includes a CBS news report of a terrorist attack on the Egyptian Embassy in Ankara, Turkey.
• KGW 620 Matinee, November 1, 1948. The Oregonian newspaper bought a transmitter from the Shipowners Radio Service in 1922 and granted a license for station KGW to broadcast at 620 kHz. Mel Blanc, "the man of a thousand voices" started his radio career on KGW's "Hoot Owls" program before moving to Los Angeles to find fame with Jack Benny and Warner Bros cartoons. The "620 Matinee" program was a mid-morning classical music show featuring recorded music as well as selections played by the KGW Orchestra. This collection includes a remote broadcast from Hood River, Oregon, describing a contest to determine the champion apple picker. Also included is a studio interview of USN Captain Harold Stassen. During the War, Stassen had been an aide to Admiral William "Bull" Halsey after he had resigned governorship of Minnesota to join the Navy. In this interview, Stassen discussed post-War expansion and veteran concerns, and he would become a contender for the Republican Presidential nomination in 1948.
• King George VI Addresses, Christmas 1941 and D-Day 1944. George ascended to the throne in 1937 after his older brother, Edward VIII abdicated to marry Mrs. Wallis Simpson. In His Majesty's Christmas Address, he praises his subjects who were serving bravely in battles around the world and acknowledges that the War was expanding to the Pacific. On June 6, 1944, the King calls his people to pray for the Allied soldiers engaged in the Invasion of Europe. (At a social function in 1944, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Sir Allen Brooke complained that he felt that Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery was after his job, His Majesty quipped that "You should worry, when I meet him, I always think he's after mine!")
• Lowell Thomas, Sunoco News Voice of the Air, December 8, 1941, NBC net. Reporter Lowell Thomas is best remembered to history for bringing T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) to the world's attention during the Great War. He was a pioneering newscaster at CBS in 1930, moving to NBC in 1932 and back to the Tiffany Network in 1947. This report comes the day after Pearl Harbor as it is becoming obvious that America is not only at War with Japan but with the entire Axis Powers.
• The March of Chimes, October 5, 1938, KFI Los Angeles, "Not Intended for Broadcast". The announcers and engineers at KFI made time to record this spoof of The March of Time, the weekly news magazine's famous documentary program, and the NBC Chimes. Because KFI and its sister station KECA were NBC affiliates but not owned by the network, they were not allowed to play the famous three-note sequence, although that rule would be relaxed during the 1940s.
• A Message from William Randolph Hearst, 1935, Brunswick Syndication. Mr. Hearst is not heard in the recording, his thoughts are read by former Secretary of State, Bainbridge Colby. It is an anti-Roosevelt, pro-business, anti-New Deal message which calls on the President to quit "experimenting" with the economy and allow business to do what business does best.
• Carlton E. Morse Interview, April 1962, KNBC San Francisco. Announcer Bill Andrews sits down with radio pioneer Carlton Morse and actor Michael Raffetto to discuss their memories of radio's early days. Raffetto starred in One Man's Family and I Love a Mystery, two of Morse's most popular creations.
• The March of Time, February 3, 1938, NBC, sponsored by the weekly news magazine Time and the picture magazine LIFE. In addition to audibly illustrating events from around the world, including increasing tensions over the European War, this episode spends considerable airtime touting the successful campaign for Baker's Chocolate in the pages of LIFE.
• Mobil Gas News, April 20, 1942. Over the past few days, the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo has taken place, confusing and frightening the Japanese home front. However, this is one of the few bright spots for the Allies in the Pacific Theater.
• NBC News Updates on December 7, 1941. There is always confusion in the immediate aftermath of a world-changing event, and the Attack on Pearl Harbor was no exception. Although the events of that Sunday morning in Oahu would take on world-wide significance, while they were occurring and for several hours afterward, Pearl Harbor was literally half-a-world away from the network headquarters in New York, and the only links between Hawaii and the mainland were a few undersea cables and perhaps a few short-wave radio circuits. One of the reports featured here is the NBC West Coast Correspondent, Upton Close, who gives sketchy updates of what is happening in the Nisei communities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. In his regular broadcast, H.V. Kaltenborn reports further supposition, less concerned with what happened than what it will mean.
• New World, NBC, 1956-57, Originally part of NBC's Monitor program, New World uses taped interviews and panel discussions to explore the issues of the day.
• News Coverage of the Cumminsville Induction Center, March 1942, WSAI Cincinnati. With the War for Americans only a few months old, some ninety individuals in the Cumminsville section of Cincinnati answer the call of their local draft board, this is their last stop before Army life.
• News Coverage of the Cincinnati Flood of 1945, WKRP Cincinnati. The waters of the Ohio, Licking, and Little Miami Rivers rose with the storms of late February and early March. Although less damaging than the 1937 floods, this one occurred with the background of the War and affected Defense plants.
• News Coverage of the Death and Funeral Procession of Franklin D. Roosevelt, April 12, 1945, CBS.
• The News Comes to Life, June 21, 1937, WJR Detroit, sponsored by R.G. Dun Cigars. Local news program dramatizing current and historical news stories. This episode features the Dalton Gang's attempted double bank robbery in Coffeyville.
• Off the Wing Tip, AFRTS, Ken and Jean Adell visit the oldest manufacturer of horse racing sulkies in Ohio and learn about the sport.
• Our Foreign Policy, NBC News, 1940s, A presentation of the NBC University of the Air, most of the surviving programs are from the post War era, featuring State Department officials discussing developments like the formation of the United Nations and employment of the Marshall Plan.
• Paul Niven Reports on the Future of the Middle East, CBS News, June 30, 1951. Niven began his career in journalism as part of CBS's London staff. He moved to Washington DC in 1949 to head up the news department at WTOP Washington after the Washington Post bought the station from CBS. Eventually, Edward R. Murrow coaxed him back to CBS to moderate Face the Nation from 1961 to 1965.
• Press Club, C and F Radio Productions syndicated, Date not listed. The scene is an exclusive club just off Newspaper Row which opens around midnight, about the time the morning edition is put to bed. Here is where ace reporter Mark Brandon holds court. Brandon seems to always have the inside track on the news behind the news, usually items which can never be printed.
• Report to the Nation, November 3, 1948, CBS, sponsored by the Continental Can Corporation. An early attempt at a current events broadcast news "magazine" program, which allows more "in-depth" reporting. The episode features a look at the Quiz Show phenomenon as well as a drama starring Boris Karloff, "Back by Christmas".
• Robert St. John News of the World, NBC, June 24, 1945. Mopping up in Okinawa. While attending Oak Park river and Forest High School in the Chicago suburbs, St. John and his classmate were held after school one afternoon to be told that; "Neither one of you will ever learn to write." The classmate was a kid named Ernest Hemingway. After lying about his age to join the Navy in the Great War, St. John attended Trinity College but was kicked out for writing an exposé about censorship by the college president. Eschewing an academic path, he returned to the Chicago area and penned a series of exposés about Al Capone's gangster activities. Feeling the heat from the crime syndicates, he joined the AP and became an overseas correspondent, always heading to the world's hotspots.
• Selected News Bloopers from the early-1970s, Various sources. Although the Golden Age of Radio was long over, radio journalism was still an important information source. The networks put together slick, highly produced news broadcasts, which were usually prerecorded for airplay. This should have minimized on-air mistakes; however, it seems as though the technician playing the sponsor spots often failed to read the report before cueing the commercials, with sometimes hilarious results.
• Sinclair Headliner, July 26, 1945, Mutual net, sponsored by Sinclair Oil. The War is wrapping up as Allied bombers attack Shanghai and mainland Japan. The Allies insist on Japan's unconditional surrender and Winston Churchill has been booted from the British government.
• Skelly News of the World, May 13, 1944, NBC, sponsored by Skelly Oil Company. The folks at Skelly are better known to OTR Fans for the Captain Midnight kid's program, but they also sponsored NBC's early morning news and commentary spot. This spring morning listeners will hear about the lead up to the Allied Invasion of the Continent.
• Stories from the American Scene, December 13, 1948, KFI Los Angeles, audition program. Entertaining "Paul Harvey" type stories.
• "Teachers for Johnson", paid political announcement, July 16, 1948. During this summer, Representative Lyndon B. Johnson from Texas's 10th Congressional District was asking voters to promote him to the Senate. Johnson had been a school teacher himself before his election to Congress in 1937, he was called to duty by the US Naval Reserve just days after Pearl Harbor, serving both in uniform and in the House.
• The City, 1947, CBS. "An Impression for Radio". The city being profiled could be any of the seeming "boom-towns" which were exploding with the vigor of the post-War economic expansion. The opportunities, glamour, expanding transportation tech, and the experience of the War are combining to make it harder to "keep 'em down on the farm".
• Time for Reason: About Radio, 1947, CBS net. Over the course of the series, educator and frequent Information, Please game show guest Lyman Bryson will discuss and investigate the state of the broadcasting art and its implications for society at large.
• Twin Views of the News, this brief local news program from 1949 has rapid-fire "parade of exclusive news" which are short synopsis of news items of the day  followed by interviews from actors such as Ray Bolger.
• Voices of VISTA, 1967, VISTA Recruiting Syndication. "Volunteers In Service To America" was established by the Johnson Administration, stemming from an idea from JFK to fight poverty at all levels of American society. 
• Woman's Home Companion, August 4, 1930, Radio Household Institute Syndication, NBC, WEAF New York. The long-running lady's magazine dramatizes the dangers of shopping at stores which engage in substitute selling. The magazine encourages listeners to shop for trust-worthy brands, such as the ones which advertise in their pages.
• The World News Round-Up, June 2, 1955, and July 17, 1956, NBC net. An early morning broadcast to bring listeners up to date on world affairs, because the world keeps turning, even while America is sleeping.
• You Make the News, May 16, 1946, Mutual net, produced in cooperation with Newsweek Magazine, sustained. News events of the past week are dramatized for listeners with a decidedly conservative bent.
• Years of Crisis with Edward R. Murrow, CBS News annual year end review of International events and developments. Interestingly, the 1958 edition is the 10th anniversary of the program as features a review of the decade after the War.
• Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, weekly program from the NBC News and Special Events Department, takes a weekly look at various elements of society from a long term perspective.
• Youth Wants to Know, late Fifties, a part of NBC's Monitor Program, allows young people to direct questions to figures in the news.