AMERICANS LEARN OF PEARL HARBOR ATTACK ON THEIR RADIOS
"We interrupt this broadcast to bring you this important bulletin. FLASH! Washington. The White House announces Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Stay tuned for further details."
Thousands of spectators at the Redskins game must have wondered the reason for many calls on the public address system for military officers to report to their headquarters.
*Marvin Kalb was born in New York City in 1930. He was educated at Harvard, George Washington University & City College of New York. MK was director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics & Public Policy.
New York City (JFK+50) According to Marvin Kalb*, there were 45 million radio sets in the United States on December 7, 1941. These sets would provide "the most important means of communication" on this historic day.
WOR here in New York was broadcasting play-by-play of a Giants professional football game when one of their station announcers broke in with these words..
"We interrupt this broadcast to bring you this important bulletin. FLASH! Washington. The White House announces Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Stay tuned for further details."
Thousands of spectators at the Redskins game must have wondered the reason for many calls on the public address system for military officers to report to their headquarters.
*Marvin Kalb was born in New York City in 1930. He was educated at Harvard, George Washington University & City College of New York. MK was director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics & Public Policy.
SOURCE
"'WAR!' How a stunned media broke the Pearl Harbor news," by Michael E. Ruane, December 6, 2011, www.washingtonpost.com
"'WAR!' How a stunned media broke the Pearl Harbor news," by Michael E. Ruane, December 6, 2011, www.washingtonpost.com
1941 Zenith Radio
