The Milwaukee Journal Stations collection is arranged in the following seven series:
Series 1. Editorial Scripts, 1964-1977 : This series includes
scripts for editorials read on WTMJ-TV, WTMJ-AM, and WTMJ-FM between September 1964 and May
1966 along with incomplete sets from 1969 and 1972, and from 1974 to 1977. Editorials were
read primarily by Bob Heiss and Rod Synnes. Other readers included Gordon Hinckley, Ed
Hinshaw, and Don Parcher.
Series 2. Radio Stations Records, 1922-1993 : This series
consists of audience surveys, photographs, material pertaining to a lawsuit filed by the
Journal Company against the Federal Radio Commission in 1929, promotional materials, a
broadcast contract, sound recordings, and material documenting the history, personnel, and
operation of the radio stations owned and operated by the Journal Company.
Series 3. Radio/Television Stations Records, 1927-1988 : This
series contains material that relates to the operation and history of both the radio and
television stations and includes several written histories, photographs, promotional
materials, staff memos, employee-produced newsletters, an employee handbook from 1966, and
information on employees. The employee files contain photographs and occasionally
biographical information and press. Materials relating specifically to the radio station may
be found in Series 2; materials relating specifically to the television station may be found
in Series 4.
Series 4. Television Station Records, 1946-1997 : This series
consists of audience surveys, broadcast contracts, photographs, administrative files of the
Special Assignment and Special
Reports programs, promotional materials, examples of early television graphics, a
CD copy of the 50th anniversary website, several videos, and material relating to the
operation and history of the television station.
Series 5. Subject Files, 1949-1987 : This series contains
photographs and some newspaper clippings providing information about various local
politicians, prominent community members, and department stores in the area. They were used
by the Journal Company staff for background information.
Series 6. Scripts and Rundowns, 1948-1988 : This series contains
the scripts used by on-air announcers during television broadcasts. The scripts provide the
voice-over narration for the film as well as cues for the announcer. There are four
subseries: scripts for the Milwaukee Newsreel program from
October 1950 through February 1955; the Special Assignment
program from September 1959 to May 1969; and, listed together in a third group, the Around the Town program, various Special
Reports, Year Enders, and miscellaneous scripts from special events and nightly
newscasts, 1948-1988.
The daily rundowns are the fourth subseries and give the order of stories for each day's
newscasts. The rundowns, 1962-1980, indicate the length of time of film footage and the
studio anchor reporting the story. Some rundowns include the phrase that introduces and
closes a story. Some rundowns indicate stories that were cut for time.
Series 7. Newsfilm, 1950-1980 : This series consists of an
estimated 2 million feet of 16mm film. The film is the original edited footage used on the
air to illustrate stories broadcast by the news department of WTMJ-TV. Besides footage of
daily and weekly news stories, there are a number of special news programs which examine
topics such as traffic safety, garbage collection, and the duties of the mayor of Milwaukee.
The collection does not contain any footage of WTMJ-TV's locally produced programs (such as
Beulah Donahue or Foreman Tom B-Square Ranch Club) or of special programs such as
Christmas concerts.
Included are Milwaukee Newsreel programs which ran from
October 4, 1950 to February 2, 1955. The program was a weekly review of the past week's news
and was broadcast on Wednesday nights. The Milwaukee Gas and Light Company sponsored the
program from its beginning until May 1954; Wisconsin Ice and Coal took over the sponsorship
of the program until it ended in February 1955.
Special Assignment programs examined specific topics
in-depth; many topics were divided into multi-part series. Special Assignments were about five minutes in length and were
shown at 6:25 p.m. Monday through Friday. This series began in May 1959 and ran until 1970.
The collection includes film and scripts for Special Assignments from May 1959 through December 1967.
Also in Series 7 is footage shown on daily newscasts dating from 1964 to 1980. This footage
contains daily news stories as well as some sports stories; there are no weather forecasts.
There are no scripts for this film, but Series 6 contains rundowns for each day.
Other newsfilm is from Special Reports,
programs that examine topics in depth; these programs are longer in length, lasting 30-60
minutes. Topics include alcoholism, divorce, traffic safety, and the 32nd Division.
Series 8. Audio Recordings, 1950-1965 : includes recordings of broadcasts concerning local, national and international news. Subjects include Presidents Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, Vice President Richard Nixon, Governors and other politicians of Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Braves baseball team, and special reports on driving. Also includes Morning Invocations and "permissions".
