Page:Oregon Exchanges volume 7.djvu/86

OREGON EXCHANGES March, 1924 business office parlance “saw the money first.

One of the writers who received 20 cents an inch with no extra allowance for the pictures with which his articles were illustrated said, “I do press agent work on the side. I have to. What chance would a reporter on $30 to $40 a week have under present conditions to marry, to maintain a home, to educate his children and to live even limitedly in accordance with the legitimate tastes of his own personal and educational stand ards! I would like to devote my pro fessional service exclusively to my paper. I could do better work. I would be prouder of it. I would feel that I pos sessed more professional dignity. But I can’t afford to.” For the purposes of this discussion another newspaperman who does press agent work for theatres was asked, “Sup pose you were paid by your paper for your work as a reporter at the same rate as the theatres pay you for writing their publicity notices; how much more or less would you get?” His answer was, “My pay from the paper would be more than twice as much and I'd never have to write another piece of press agent copy. " In the narrow, office sense, news is the recorded action of the day. Publicity is propaganda. In the broader sense, news is whatever interests people. Within this definition features and advertising may have news value and editorials should. But in narrow and broad definition of news, publicity is always propaganda. Publicity is often propaganda for which schemers seek free space in news columns in order to save themselves ad vertising bills. Oftcntimes by skilful phrasing attempt is made to exploit the confidence inspired by the news colunm statement in behalf of some selfish inter est. Here, for instance, is a publicity sheet issued by a Portland bond house, “The Wall Street — says the demand for bonds absorbs new issues. Bankers are in no haste to float new financing being confident of higher pricm a little later on. " Here is obvious intent to bolster later current offerings. The sheet in question contained two other items, one of which was intended to quicken the sale ofacer tain railroa(l's bonds and the other was simon-pure personal advertising. This sheet went over the financial editor's desk into the waste basket. It is, in fact, a constant obligation of editors to sieve out the few kernels of news these sheets may contain from the greater bulk of deliberate exploitation material. The mass of publicity that reaches a newspaper office every day is amazing. It is directed to every person connected with the paper whose name or position is known. It chiefly makes the big waste baskets of newspaper offices necessary. A little of it actually gets into the papers. but that little is quite a lot when compared either with the total number of columns printed or the sheer worth of the material. POOBLY WRITTEN PUBLICITY Some of the publicity is so raw that it is revolting. It doesn’t possess the lure or skill of good writing. Some of the publicity looks as if some scheming press agent had exploited an individual or a firm that wants publicity, is not entitled to it, but is willing to pay to get it pro vided the money goes to a press agent and not into the advertising till. One man has for years been trying to become a national figure through press agentism. He started in the war as a garden promoter. He now carries a national tree association around under his hat. From the pieces of press agent propaganda that come bearing his name in every other paragraph it is evident that some greedy press agent finds him a wonderfully easy mark. The greatest crime of the century in publicity propaganda was committed by the government during the war. Despite the strictures on consumption of news print paper, every government bureau [9]