Re: [ARSCLIST] Actual Pearl Harbor Bulletin Broadcast

[vdalhart <vdalhart@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

    Just a brief story which your question reminded me of.  As a 17 year
old, I was out in our auto listening to a program, which was a "No, Ho" in
our house, when the Pearl Harbor announcement came on the air.  I was torn
between going in and notifying the rest of the family, or keeping my mouth
shut about using the car radio. I decided the news was more important.
There was never a word said about my using the radio.
    Jack P.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Neal Lavon" <nlavon@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2003 2:36 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Actual Pearl Harbor Bulletin Broadcast


> Actually, I found out what I needed to know from an OTR site that led to
> me a post by Elizabeth McLeod:
>
> I'll share it:
>
> From: Elizabeth McLeod lizmcl@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Date: 3/23/00 10:54 AM Eastern Standard Time
>
> I have at home a book that contains CBS transcripts of their broadcasts on
> December 7, so I will research that and report back to you what they
> published in book form about the bulletin. I do recall that the text is
> different from what is on the recording. The text will also confirm the
> air time of the cut-in by Daly.
>
> Since my last post, I've come across a citation from the CBS
> publication "From Pearl Harbor To Tokyo," which states that Daly's first
> announcement came at 2:31 PM, and was therefore the lead story in the
> scheduled 2:30 newscast. The wording cited in the text matches the second
> part of the edited material from "I Can Hear It Now," indicating that
> after the opening announcement of the newscast, Daly led with the story --
>  "The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor Hawaii by air, President
> Roosevelt has just announced." There was no "special bulletin" at all --
> it was simply the lead story on a scheduled news period.
>
> Since this account was prepared in 1945, by the CBS Publicity department
> itself, it confirms to me that CBS failed to interrupt regular programming
> to announce the attack -- and also confirms that NBC beat CBS onto the air
> with the news since both Red and Blue took a bulletin at 2:29 PM, just
> as "Great Plays" was moving into its mid-show break on Blue and the Sammy
> Kaye Serenade was ending on Red. In New York at least, WOR beat both NBC
> and CBS, with Len Sterling breaking into a Brooklyn Dodgers-New York
> Giants football broadcast at approximately 225 PM, just three minutes
> after the first bulletin moved on the wire services. This announcement
> didn't go over the full Mutual network, however -- according to Radio
> Guide listings for December 7th, 1941, the 2pm to 3pm period was a local
> availability for Mutual stations, and they were carrying their own
> programming.
>
>
> I do have a copy of the football cut-in of PH so that may be one of
> the "original" or "real" ones. But I guess I had it bass-ackwards in that
> the Philharmonic cut-in is bogus and the football one sounds, at least on
> the surface, genuine. But the Daly announcement, in and of itself, could
> be authentic, it just was not part of the Philharmonic cut-in.
>
> Thank you Elizabeth McLeod.
>
>
> Neal Lavon
> Voice of America
> Washington D.C.
> USA
>