Radio doings (Dec 1930-Jun1932)

THREE MUSKETEERS W ho Nearly Landed in Jail For Attempting To Take a Microphone To the Courtroom. They Decided To Dramatize the Murder Trial Instead, and Many Still Think It Was the Real Thing. 01 JULIUS CAESAR crossed the Rubicon and landed in the middle of a bloody war; King Charles the First signed the Magna Charta and upset a monarchy: A band of pioneers decided to do as they chose and young America was plunged into a revolution. And when the Radio News Service of America atempted to install KNX microphones in a courtroom to broadcast the murder trial of David H. Clark, Los Angeles was thrown into a mild civil war. Less than an hour after the young exdeputy prosecutor surrendered to face trial for firing the shots which sent two noted politicians to their graves, Ivan Johnson, managing editor of the Radio News Service of America burst into my office shouting, "Yep! We can do it." "Do what?" I asked. "Put microphones in the courtroom and broadcast Clark's trial to the world." It sounded like a great idea and a comparatively simple one too — but at that time, we hadn't figured on the outcome. We looked over one of the superior courtrooms on the eighth floor of the Hall of Justice to find a place for our mike. "The chandelier's the place for it," Johnson exclaimed. Having thus decided this weighty matter, we set about obtaining a microphone so powerful, so sensitive and so perfect that it would catch every wheeze of the judge, every snort of the attorneys and every whisper of the witness on the stand. Supervisor John Quinn was our next approach. "It's never been done before," we told him, "but the microphone certainly has a place in the dissemination of news, and we want you to introduce this resolution giving us permission to hide a Here are the characters in the radio drama. Standing — Jack Carter as Judge Murray, Tom Breneman as Gilbert. Sitting — Tom Wallace as David Clark and Stuart Buchanan as Joe Ford. mike in the courtroom to broadcast the trial." With what we interpreted as Quinn's assent we proceeded to the chambers of Presiding Judge John L. Fleming. "We have to have your O.K. on this before we can go any farther, judge," we told him. "The Board of Supervisors will pass a resolution permitting us to install the equipment — now how do you feel about it?" "I believe that radio has a place in the dissemination of news," said the judge, "as far as I'm concerned — I am not against it — but you know you have to have the consent of the judge hearing the case." Well, now we were getting some place. Our next visit was to the office of William Davidson, the county engineer. "Davidson, we want to install microphones in the courtroom — " But we got no further. "Yasss — I know," growled the Scot, "I'm not gonna let you do anything like that unless Judge Fleming and the Board of Supervisor say it's all right." We told him it was O.K. with the judge and that the Board would pass the resolution. That was that. We left the citadel of county government bound for radio laboratories in search of a microphone so small it could be hidden from selfconscious witnesses and so sensitive it would be practical. Two days later I called County Engineer Davidson for some technical information. "Oh, yea — I've been wantin' to get in touch with you radio bugs," he roared into my ear. "Supervisor Quinn says he didn't tell you the board was gonna let you put microphones in that courtroom and Judge Fleming is mad because you went around saying he was in favor of puttin' 'em in!" Now Judge Fleming had not said definitely that he was for us — he had merely commented that he saw no reason why it could not be done if the