I will never forget the sound and if you're old enough to have been in a newsroom when they existed, neither will you - the clickety-clack of the old teletype that was used to deliver news copy to radio and TV stations. The noise of that machine typing away used to be used on CFTR newscasts back in its rock and roll days and if I'm not mistaken, continued on for many years in its present all-news wheel incarnation. 

It was a staple to add a special pizzaz background for many formats, especially Top 40 outlets in the 60s and 70s. But man, were they noisy. At one station I worked at in the 70s, it was kept in a separate closet like room with the door closed because it was just too loud. You could still hear the bells, though, if a bulletin came in, but it made the whole place a lot less chaotic.   

But then computers took over and it became as anachronistic as that old dial-up modem noise in the early days of the Internet.  

So I was surprised to read that one very famous radio station was still using it as recently as a few weeks ago. KYW in Philadelphia has been doing all news for decades. But up until now, that ever present sound effect was a part of its on-air sound, perhaps the last place in the world to still use it. 

As the article below indicates, a lot of people in Philly who listen to the station have noticed - and they don't necessarily like its absence. I know this isn't a local story, per se, but I find it fascinating that the almost cliched SFX was still being used by someone so late into 2020. Too bad computers don't make more noise!

The day the teletype died: Why KYW silenced a Philadelphia tradition