Michael Satterfield
CBS Mobile Newsroom
No one seems to know when it was built or whose idea it was at CBS to create this amazing streamlined mobile newsroom, but it might be one of the most astonishing specialty vehicles ever built. I first spotted it in the background from photos shot at the 1948 National Air Races, held outside of Cleveland, Ohio. After searching online without any luck, I posted a photo to Facebook, where fellow enthusiasts Mike Hagerty and David Grudt dug up some additional images that another former CBS employee, Paul Sakrison, saved. Paul had no more info besides the photos he had saved to his phone.
The streamlined styling seems to be more like something from the 1930s, yet the only photos of the truck show 1948 license plates from New York. The back half is a glass dome that features a broadcasting console and seating area for conducting interviews; the CBS Mobile Newsroom was most likely for CBS Radio. The roof also featured a clear canopy that can be seen in one photo slid open, perhaps to allow for filming or perhaps just ventilation.
The fact that such a unique vehicle isn’t in a museum or collection somewhere is surprising; it would be a fantastic barn find and a unique piece of broadcast history. If you know more about the CBS Mobile Newsroom, send us an email we would love to update this story with more information.
Main Images Courtesy The Library Of Congress
