Professor Featured in ‘History Detectives’ Episode

---

7/9/09

Steven Phipps, PhD, assistant professor of communication at Maryville University, will be featured in an upcoming episode of the popular PBS television program, History Detectives. Phipps, an expert in broadcast history, was asked to reveal the results of database and vintage newspaper searches, as well as discuss World War II journalism. The episode is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. on July 20 on KETC/Channel 9.

Lion Television, producers of the program, videotaped an interview with Phipps in New York last spring. The segment involves the story of Iva Toguri, accused of being WWII radio propagandist “Tokyo Rose.” The featured historians, including Phipps, are charged with identifying a voice on an old audio recording – the voice of a reporter interviewing another journalist, Harry Brundidge (longtime St. Louis newsman), at a pier in San Francisco. The interview took place as Toguri disembarked from a nearby ship, arriving from Japan to the United States.  She was brought back to the U.S. to stand trial for treason and Brundidge was the person primarily responsible for bringing her back.

Maryville University, founded in 1872, is a four-year, private university located in west St. Louis County. Ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s Best Colleges in the Masters-Midwest category, Maryville University students may choose from 50 academic programs, including degrees at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels. Among recent graduates, 94 percent are employed or attending graduate school. More than 15,000 Maryville alumni work and live in the St. Louis region.