WMAQ Channel 5 - NBC News Chicago Report - "Russian/American Culture" (Excerpt, 1972)

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Here's an excerpt from a broadcast of the NBC News Chicago Report on WMAQ Channel 5. This clip comes in at the end of a report on a local radio station, WEDC (1240 AM), that at the time primarily aired Polish and Spanish programming - and also some Russian-language programming for Chicago's Russian-American community; the reporter noted a heightened interest in Russian culture in the wake of President Nixon's trip that week to the Soviet Union. The microphone used by the Russian-language disc jockey at the WEDC studios appears to be an Altec (originally Western Electric) model 639B, which was ubiquitous at many radio stations in the 1950's and, in some cases (such as WEDC's), beyond.

Note that in those days, WMAQ's news department was controlled directly by the national NBC News organization, which explains the network news moniker in the newscast title; also note the "5" which was derived from the Impact font, and was used from about 1971 to 1974.

Note: This was originally broadcast in color, but captured on this early home videotape recording in black and white. There are some tape-tracking problems that are noticeable at certain points on this clip.

This aired on local Chicago TV in late May of 1972.

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