On the Media How a Prison Fire Helped Create CBS News
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Apr 29, 2026 
A. Brad Schwartz, historian and author of Broadcast Hysteria, discusses the 1930 Ohio Penitentiary fire and its shocking live radio coverage. He recounts Otto “Deacon” Gardner’s eyewitness broadcast, how local reporting was patched to a national feed, and how the moment pushed CBS from entertainment toward serious news.
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CBS Began As An Entertainment Upstart
- CBS started as an entertainment-focused network in 1927 with no news division and poor early reviews, not as an established news organization.
- The network was an upstart rival to NBC, built by a stock promoter and talent agent focused on talent and entertainment rather than journalism.
Prisoner Became The Onscene Radio Voice
- Otto "Deacon" Gardner, a convicted murderer turned prison chapel secretary, delivered a live eyewitness radio account from inside the Ohio Penitentiary during the April 1930 fire.
- Gardner managed the prison's WAIU broadcasts, knew microphone craft, and described prisoners as "brothers," which resonated nationally and made him the memorable voice of the disaster.
Local Chapel Mic Turned Local News Into National Radio
- WAIU in Columbus saw smoke from its skyscraper studio, patched a chapel microphone into the station, and by 11:15 p.m. CBS in New York relayed the live Columbus broadcast to about 72 affiliates.
- Technical improvisation—phone lines and on-site transmitters—turned a local prison chapel broadcast into a national, unscheduled eyewitness report.