WWJ / WDIV Film, Video, and Teleprompter Scripts
Collection
Identifier: UAV001112
Scope and Content
The WWJ / WDIV Film, Video, and Teleprompter Scripts is divided into nine series. Six of the series are 16mm films, two are magnetic tapes, and one is paper. The series descriptions are below:
The 1920s Newsreel series contains 11 films that are divided into clips of newsworthy or human interest items that occured in the Detroit area in the 1920s. Most likely they were played at movie theaters before the feature films and were a source of both news and entertainment for Detroiters.
The 1940s Newsfilms and Newsreel Compilations series are the next oldest group of films. This series contains 36 films of news clips compiled from the late 1940s and 11 films that the station compiled of various years up to 1968. The films highlight local sports and competitions, charity drives, parades, weather events, Detroit buildings and landmarks, and much more.
The Programming Films series contains films of special programs that WWJ produced from 1950 to 1978. Some of the topics of the shows include the Dodge and Manoogian Mansions, the Detroit Police, teenagers of the 1960s, Diptheria, Motown artists Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson, Jimmy Hoffa's disapperance, Albert Kahn, and local horseracing, to name a few. They are arranged alphbetically by subject.
The Small B-Roll series contains B-roll, outs, and excess film from news events that took place from 1959 to 1969. This series is divided into five sub-series based on how the the films were labeled. The five sub-series are Newscope, Feature Stories, News Films, Labor, and Miscellaneous. The films that did not have specific category labels went into the miscellaneous series. Because of the small size of each film, the collection is stored in 28 smaller archival boxes.
The Large B-Roll series consists of larger films of B-roll for news stories from the 1960s through 1978. The subjects in this series include footage from news stories like the Oakland County child killer, the Shipwreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, cows contaminated with PBB, the 1973 floods, and the Port Huron Tunnel explosion. It also includes films of Detroit-area attractions like the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Zoo, the Pontiac Silverdome, the Hazel Park race track, and Belle Isle Bridges. There is also footage of notable people such as presidents Carter, Ford, Nixon, and Reagan, and entertainers and athletes like Diana Ross, the rock group KISS, Gordie Howe, and Mark "the Bird" Fidrych. The films are organized on shelves (without boxes), alphabetically by subject.
The WDIV Teleprompter Scripts contain the scripts of news broadcasts from 1973 to 1978. They consist of the actual drafts from the noon, 5:00, 6:00, and 11:00 PM newscasts, on the dates covered and document local, national, and international news events from the 1970s. Sporting events, weather, and human-interest stories are covered, as well. They are arranged in boxes chronologically.
The WWJ / WDIV Newscast series is the 16mm films used in each newscast from 1973 to November 1978. It also contains three reels from 1971 and two from 1972. They are B-roll films of the Noon, 5:00 PM, 6:00 PM, and 11:00 PM newscasts. Not all footage remains with the films if the film clips were used for subsequesnt stories. They are arranged on shelves (without boxes) chronologically. Note: They are not the actual newscasts.
The WDIV Tapes series are generally content either originating from the 1980s to the 2010s or content that was migrated to the tape format in that timeframe. Some of the tape content is duplicative of the 16mm films in the collection. The tapes are either 1-inch, Beta, or VHS format and cover more recent newsworthy topics of local interest such as the crash of Northwest Airlines flight 255, the Malice Green murder case, Kim Worthy's Kwame Kilpatrick indictment, Nelson Mandela visit to Detroit, and the 1984 Detroit Tigers, and much more. They are arranged in 18 boxes by format and general subject area.
The WDIV Flashpoint tapes series documents nearly fourteen years of Flashpoint, the weekly community affairs program hosted by WDIV news anchor, Devin Scillion. The tapes start when the show began in 1998 and go up to 2011. They are all in the Betacam tape format. The Flashpoint series covers local and state politics, education, business, and economy-related topics with interviews with experts and then a roundtable discussion led by Scillion between locally recognized journalists, scholars, and politicians. The tapes are arranged on shelves (without boxes) chronologically.
PLEASE NOTE: This collection may include labels and descriptions deemed offensive by today's standards. The archivists of the Walter P. Reuther Library strive to provide historical context in their arrangement and description of such material. Its inclusion illustrates the language that was accepted at the time in which the records were created. This terminology does not reflect the mission, vision, or values of the Walter P. Reuther Library, The Library System, or Wayne State University. For more information, please see The Library System’s statement on Diversity at https://library.wayne.edu/info/about/diversity/
The 1920s Newsreel series contains 11 films that are divided into clips of newsworthy or human interest items that occured in the Detroit area in the 1920s. Most likely they were played at movie theaters before the feature films and were a source of both news and entertainment for Detroiters.
The 1940s Newsfilms and Newsreel Compilations series are the next oldest group of films. This series contains 36 films of news clips compiled from the late 1940s and 11 films that the station compiled of various years up to 1968. The films highlight local sports and competitions, charity drives, parades, weather events, Detroit buildings and landmarks, and much more.
The Programming Films series contains films of special programs that WWJ produced from 1950 to 1978. Some of the topics of the shows include the Dodge and Manoogian Mansions, the Detroit Police, teenagers of the 1960s, Diptheria, Motown artists Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson, Jimmy Hoffa's disapperance, Albert Kahn, and local horseracing, to name a few. They are arranged alphbetically by subject.
The Small B-Roll series contains B-roll, outs, and excess film from news events that took place from 1959 to 1969. This series is divided into five sub-series based on how the the films were labeled. The five sub-series are Newscope, Feature Stories, News Films, Labor, and Miscellaneous. The films that did not have specific category labels went into the miscellaneous series. Because of the small size of each film, the collection is stored in 28 smaller archival boxes.
The Large B-Roll series consists of larger films of B-roll for news stories from the 1960s through 1978. The subjects in this series include footage from news stories like the Oakland County child killer, the Shipwreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, cows contaminated with PBB, the 1973 floods, and the Port Huron Tunnel explosion. It also includes films of Detroit-area attractions like the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Zoo, the Pontiac Silverdome, the Hazel Park race track, and Belle Isle Bridges. There is also footage of notable people such as presidents Carter, Ford, Nixon, and Reagan, and entertainers and athletes like Diana Ross, the rock group KISS, Gordie Howe, and Mark "the Bird" Fidrych. The films are organized on shelves (without boxes), alphabetically by subject.
The WDIV Teleprompter Scripts contain the scripts of news broadcasts from 1973 to 1978. They consist of the actual drafts from the noon, 5:00, 6:00, and 11:00 PM newscasts, on the dates covered and document local, national, and international news events from the 1970s. Sporting events, weather, and human-interest stories are covered, as well. They are arranged in boxes chronologically.
The WWJ / WDIV Newscast series is the 16mm films used in each newscast from 1973 to November 1978. It also contains three reels from 1971 and two from 1972. They are B-roll films of the Noon, 5:00 PM, 6:00 PM, and 11:00 PM newscasts. Not all footage remains with the films if the film clips were used for subsequesnt stories. They are arranged on shelves (without boxes) chronologically. Note: They are not the actual newscasts.
The WDIV Tapes series are generally content either originating from the 1980s to the 2010s or content that was migrated to the tape format in that timeframe. Some of the tape content is duplicative of the 16mm films in the collection. The tapes are either 1-inch, Beta, or VHS format and cover more recent newsworthy topics of local interest such as the crash of Northwest Airlines flight 255, the Malice Green murder case, Kim Worthy's Kwame Kilpatrick indictment, Nelson Mandela visit to Detroit, and the 1984 Detroit Tigers, and much more. They are arranged in 18 boxes by format and general subject area.
The WDIV Flashpoint tapes series documents nearly fourteen years of Flashpoint, the weekly community affairs program hosted by WDIV news anchor, Devin Scillion. The tapes start when the show began in 1998 and go up to 2011. They are all in the Betacam tape format. The Flashpoint series covers local and state politics, education, business, and economy-related topics with interviews with experts and then a roundtable discussion led by Scillion between locally recognized journalists, scholars, and politicians. The tapes are arranged on shelves (without boxes) chronologically.
PLEASE NOTE: This collection may include labels and descriptions deemed offensive by today's standards. The archivists of the Walter P. Reuther Library strive to provide historical context in their arrangement and description of such material. Its inclusion illustrates the language that was accepted at the time in which the records were created. This terminology does not reflect the mission, vision, or values of the Walter P. Reuther Library, The Library System, or Wayne State University. For more information, please see The Library System’s statement on Diversity at https://library.wayne.edu/info/about/diversity/
Dates
- 1920-2011
- Majority of material found within 1947 - 1978
Creator
- WWJ-TV (Television station : Detroit, Mich.) (Organization)
Language of Materials
Material entirely in English.
Access
Collection is open for research.
Use
Refer to the Walter P. Reuther Library
Rules for Use of Archival Materials.
History
WDIV began as WWDT in March of 1947. It was the first television station in Michigan and the sixth in the United States. The call letters were changed to WWJ-TV in May of 1947. Less than a month later, the station’s first newscast was televised. By June of 1947, WWJ-TV began with daily programming of just six and half hours a day, Tuesday through Sunday. Tiger baseball, Lion Football, Red Wing Hockey, college football, and the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade were some of the events of local interest that were broadcast on WWJ-TV that first year. In March of 1948, WWJ-TV joined the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). A new studio was added onto the radio building on Lafayette Boulevard in Detroit in 1952. In May of 1978, Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc. took over, changing the station’s call letters to the current WDIV. WDIV Local 4 is currenlty owed by Graham Media Group (GMG) and is one of four local news stations in the metropolitan Detroit area.
Extent
372 Linear Feet (70 SB, 28 OS, 3203 large film reels, 543 videotapes)
Abstract
WDIV began as WWDT in March of 1947 as the first television station in Michigan and the sixth in the United States. It was owed by the Evening News Association which also owned the Detroit News newspaper and Detroit’s WWJ Radio. WWJ Radio was originally part of the National Broadcasting Company’s NBC Radio Network and is the reason why the current television station is still an NBC affiliate. In May of 1947, to match the radio station’s call letters, WWDT changed its call letters to WWJ. Less than a month later, the station’s first newscast was televised, and WWJ-TV began with daily programming of just six and half hours a day, Tuesday through Sunday. Tiger baseball, Lion Football, Red Wing Hockey, college football, and the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade were some of the events of local interest that were broadcast on WWJ-TV that first year. A new studio was added onto the radio building on Lafayette Boulevard in Detroit in 1952 and the station started broadcasting its newscasts and other local programming in color in 1960. In May of 1978, Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc. (renamed Graham Media Group) took over, changing the station’s call letters to the current WDIV. WDIV Local 4 is one of three local news stations in the metropolitan Detroit area and the only station with offices and studios within Detroit city limits.
The WWJ / WDIV Film, Video and Teleprompter Scripts collections spans over 90 years of detroit history, with the earliest films being the WWJ 1920s Newsreels. WWJ's earliest news films are represented in the 1940s newsfilm and compilations series. Metropolitan Detroit news history from the 1950s through 2000s can be found in the B-roll and Programming films. Flashpoint is the Sunday morning news show that focuses on Detroit and Michigan's political news. That series spans both centuries, going from 1998 to 2011. The Teleprompter Scripts series contains the scripts of news broadcasts in the 1970s and the Newscast series contains all daily newscasts from most of the 1970s.
The WWJ / WDIV Film, Video and Teleprompter Scripts collections spans over 90 years of detroit history, with the earliest films being the WWJ 1920s Newsreels. WWJ's earliest news films are represented in the 1940s newsfilm and compilations series. Metropolitan Detroit news history from the 1950s through 2000s can be found in the B-roll and Programming films. Flashpoint is the Sunday morning news show that focuses on Detroit and Michigan's political news. That series spans both centuries, going from 1998 to 2011. The Teleprompter Scripts series contains the scripts of news broadcasts in the 1970s and the Newscast series contains all daily newscasts from most of the 1970s.
Acquisition
contents were given to the Reuther Library in 1972, January 28, 1983, September 2013, and February 2018
Processing History
Processed and Finding aid written by Mary Wallace on October 20, 2021. Processing help from David Quin, Anita Polymeneas, and Mark Prindiville.
Creator
- WWJ-TV (Television station : Detroit, Mich.) (Organization)
- Title
- Guide to the WWJ / WDIV Film, Video and Teleprompter Transcripts
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Mary Wallace.
- Date
- 2021-10-19
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Walter P. Reuther Library Repository
Contact:
5401 Cass Avenue
Detroit MI 48202 USA
5401 Cass Avenue
Detroit MI 48202 USA