This model 55 Shure microphone was used at the KCOR-AM radio building in San Antonio, Texas during the 1950s. First introduced in 1939, the microphone became iconic due to its adoption by radio personalities and musical acts. The microphone uses Shure’s “Unidyne” element, a pick-up element that only accepts sounds from one direction and forms a cardioid sensitivity pattern. KCOR was licensed and operated by Raoul A. Cortez (1905-1971), a pioneer of Spanish-language media in the United States. Cortez later established the KCOR-TV station in 1955, and programmed his stations to serve the Spanish-speaking community in Texas.
Cameraman and reporter, Andreas Morin used this handheld Sony Trinitron color camera when he worked for the Spanish-language KWEX-TV in San Antonio, Texas. The camera recorded to ¾-inch tape, allowed reporters to leave the studio and easily capture news on location. The camera connected to a portable recorder ( object 2015.0002.04) which was worn via on over-the-shoulder strap.
KWEX-TV Channel 41 broadcast various news and local interest programming from locations around the city, including Mass from the San Fernando Cathedral. KWEX traces its roots to KCOR-TV, launched by Raoul A. Cortez in 1954-1955 as the first Latino-owened, Spanish-language station in the continental United States. Cortez sold the station to his son-in-law, Emilio Nicolas and a group of investors in 1961. It would become the hub of operations for the Spanish International Network, the forerunner to Univision.
The Sony Corporation manufactured this U-matic S model VO-3800 portable videocassette remote recorder around 1974. The U-Matic was a ¾-inch tape that replaced the heavy and hard-to-process 16mm film used in the news field previously. The portable recorder connected to a shoulder camera, worn on an over-the-shoulder strap. Although the unit weighed forty pounds, it freed reporters from the studio, allowing them to do more stories on location.
Cameraman and reporter Andreas Morin used this recording unit when he worked at KWEX-TV in San Antonio, Texas during the 1970s. The station operated on such a tight budget, that reporters like Morin often had to reuse the tape multiple times, recording over earlier programs.
KWEX-TV traces its roots to KCOR-TV, founded in 1954-1955 by Raoul A. Cortez. It was the first Latino-owned, all-Spanish television station in the continental United States. Struggling for financial support, the station was sold in 1961 to Cortez's son-in-law Emilio Nicolas and a group of investors. It became KWEX, the base of operations for the Spanish International Network (SIN). The network would eventually become Univision after a subsequent sale in the 1980s.