by Alan Torbet

As I read in Flash of the death of Glenn Starlin, remembered for his contributions to the broadcasting craft at the School of Journalism, I harked back to 1938-39 when the School first dipped its toe into the broadcast waters.

Dean Eric Allen thought it might be time to think of radio broadcasting as a potential field of employment for newspeople and looked for anyone around the School who might know something about the mysterious new medium.

As a junior in his classes, I was working part time at KORE, Eugene’s only station at that time. My noon-day newscast was made up totally from wire reports and a few yarns I’d rewrite from The Register-Guard and Daily News, the two Eugene dailies. There was no such luxury as a “newsroom” or real reporter. I also did a stint as the “Man on the Street” in front of the Tiffany Davis drugstore on Willamette street.

Because no one else in the school had ever been near a radio station, Dean Allen asked me to start our project in radio broadcasting, under the direction of George Turnbull, my copy-editing professor. George turned on that wry smile of his and said, “Unless you know something about radio, this is a classic study in the halt leading the blind.”

We knew, however, that station KOAC, the college station in Corvallis, had recently installed a remote studio in our Music Building for “cultural” broadcasts. We asked them to provide two hours on Thursday nights for us to broadcast news, sports and general information as a workshop, with our J-School students writing and producing the entire two hours.

Ep Hoyt, a UO grad and then publisher of the Portland Oregonian and president of KGW, the paper’s radio station, (and dear friend of Dean Allen), put some heat on KOAC’s board, and they approved our petition.

We performed our first two-hour broadcast in October, 1939, and George Turnbull and Dean Allen were like two kids with a new toy. Six of their students wrote and produced the entire two-hour program of news, sports, a historical documentary, and a half-hour soap-opera type drama. With no noticeable goofs, it sounded quite professional and prompted three or four of us to go into the medium.

I, as an example, went into broadcasting following newspaper work as general manager of the Coos Bay Times (now World) and Vancouver Sun. I joined KPOJ, Portland, as business and commercial manager.

Moving to California in 1950, after my 10 years of newspapers and radio in Oregon, I managed KROW-KABL and KSFO, San Francisco; was co-owner and general manager of KRAK, Sacramento; and founded Torbet Broadcasting Representatives, which has 180 radio and TV stations across the country as clients.

It all started with Dean Allen, George Turnbull and six fledgling radio students 60 years ago this October, with not the slightest hint of the growth broadcasting would make in our J-School.

Broadcast news grew up during World War II with the advent of reporters such as Edward R. Murrow, William Shirer, et al; and with commentators such as Lowell Thomas, H.V. Kaltenborn, Fulton Lewis, Jr. Eric Severied, etc. (not including Walter Winchell).

Prior to them, radio was largely an entertainment medium, a conveyance for Amos and Andy, Edgar Bergen, Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, Red Skelton, Milton Berle, et al. What news there was, was sent out on the networks, most notably CBS, or in coverage of special events such as the wrecks of the Hindenberg and Morro Castle, or abdication of King Edward. Creative news reporting by local stations simply didn’t exist then. Most didn’t even attempt rewriting newspaper stories, but would just rip and read the wire services.

Thanks to men like Glenn Starlin and Fred Friendly, and the old thinkers like Dean Eric Allen, modern schools and their fine equipment are preparing today’s students for a strong service in radio and TV broadcasting and on the Internet. It’s great for an old grad who saw it all start.