A look at the way Radio and their commentators covered news in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. In this episode:

• A portion of the 20th Century International Newsreel from February 24, 1939. Host Michael Blair interviewed arriving passengers and celebrities from the Panama-Pacific Lines SS Washington at San Pedro harbor.

• Walter Winchell’s Jergens Journal from September 12, 1943.

• Alex Dreier and the News from October 11, 1946. More chat about his just-concluded vacation than news.

• Upton Close and the News, originally broadcast April 1, 1951. Close, formerly a reporter for the Associated press, was an early America Firster, Isolationist, and anti-Communist. A commentator for Mutual Radio, his opinions brought him under attack from left-wing groups who got him thrown off of a number of big city stations. Though his conservative read-meat broadcasts remained very popular in the midwest.