Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

IN THE NBC NEWSROOM (LEFT), ROBERT BROWN AND WILLIAM F. BROOKS SCAN THE LATEST D-DAY BULLETIN. IN A LONDON OFFICE (RIGHT) COL. DAVID SARNOFF, PRESIDENT OF RCA, DISCUSSES WITH J. H. BREBNER, DIRECTOR OF THE NEWS DIVI- SION, BRITISH MINISTRY OF INFORMATION, ADVANCE PLANS FOR HANDLING PRESS BY RADIO AND CABLE ON D-DAY. COLONEL SARNOFF IS ON ACTIVE DUTY WITH THE U. S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS, ATTACHED TO SUPREME HEADQUARTERS OF THE ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE. Mueller, a veteran of two previous invasions; David Anderson, George Y. Wheeler and Edwin Haaker were sent to the other side to aid Stanley Richardson and John Mac- Vane. In addition, there were Tom Treanor, Los Angeles newspaper man who was assigned to the Coast Guard, Ruth Cowan, accredited to the Coastal Receiving Hospital, and Wright Bryan, Atlanta Journal managing editor, who is attached to the Naval Forces. It was Wright Bryan who brought to England the first fact- ual report of the actual invasion, and it was the first radio descrip- tion to reach the airways. There was no one man responsi- ble for NBC's invasion coverage. From its top-notch reporter to the boy and girl who tore copy from the teletype machines, all worked as a well-oiled machine in bringing this spectacle to the news-hungry nation. When the first broadcast flash came at 12:-40 A.M., June 6, there were few people in the newsroom in Radio City. Even then, in view of the false report two days previ- ous, caution was demanded. An announcer was summoned and a bulletin was flashed over the air. Then began the task of calling in all who were to work on the inva- sion, including Mr. Trammell. Even though there was then no official confirmation from the Allied Supreme Command, the continual flow of bulletins of German deriva- tion seemed to substantiate the original report. Within periods of several minutes, NBC gave the story to the public as it came from the press association news tickers. Supervised Bedlam Robert St. John, veteran corre- spondent and one of NBC's ace commentators, was at a microphone a half-liour after the original re- port. Following him came H. V. Kaltenborn, dean of radio news analysts, whose coverage of the Munich crisis is still considered radio's greatest reporting job. These men soi-ted out long bul- letins at the microphones as the true invasion story gradually un- folded. Then came the official Allied confirmation at 3:30 A. M. By this time, the NBC newsroom was a scene of supervised bedlam. A(h)li)li Schneider sat at the cue channel desk talking and on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, in a small radio booth, he was being answered by those in charge of radio facili- ties there. He was arranging for broadcasts on D-Day action, and lining up stories which were later brought to the world. He didn't leave that room for eight solid hours, for as the action grew more intense his task became greater. Bob St. John made a total of thirty-three broadcasts, ranging from two-minute bulletins to half- hour shows. H. V. Kaltenborn was equally active, as, without script but with his map before him, he gave the stories to the people of a listening nation, many of whom had sons in the very action he was describing. Kaltenborn gave a most dramatic picture, as, working only with notes, he unhesitatingly pieced together the battle action, describing each landing, how it was made and giving historical back- grounds where the landings took place. He could do this because he had been at the very spots where Allied boats scratched the sandy shore to dump their cargoes of men, arms and equipment. When news tapered slightly in New York, NBC turned its point of pick-up to Washington, Cleveland, Chicago, Pacific Coast, Honolulu, Australia, Rome and other points around the Globe. Not once during the long hours of this invasion did this story lose its interest. There were three interviews [4 RADIO AGE]