Re: [ARSCLIST] Actual Pearl Harbor Bulletin Broadcast

[Neal Lavon <nlavon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

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