Oregon Exchanges/Volume 6/Number 1

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Oregon Exchanges, Volume 6 (1922)
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3334567Oregon Exchanges, Volume 6 — Number 11922George Stanley Turnbull

Oregon Exchanges

For the Newspaper Men of the State of Oregon

Vol. 6

Eugene, Oregon, October, 1922

No. 1

NEWSPAPER GROUPS AND FOREIGN
ADVERTISING

By W. F. G. THACHER

Professor of Advertising in University of Oregon

[Mr. Thacher made a trip east last summer in the interest of Oregon newspapers in general and a selected group of dailies in particular, to get Oregon publications in the closest possible touch with the large space-buying agencies of the country. The article which follows covers one phase of his observations on his trip. Mr. Thacher is making a full report to the group of dailies which he represented on his trip.]

IN ANY consideration of newspaper groups, distinction must be made at

the outset between actual organizations, born of a common interest and included within a distinct territory, and those promiscuous “lists,” of which the A. P. A. is a type, and which are formed, obviously, not through any consciousness of solidarity felt by the members themselves, but through the efforts of outside interests. Concerning this latter kind of organization, the writer, in this connection at least, has nothing at all to say.

The bona fide organization, which is the outgrowth of the direct expression of common needs, common interests, com mon purposes, is a somewhat recent phenomenon in the newspaper world, and has in it much of importance for all progressive newspaper men. This tendency to organize is, of course, in line with the trend toward' combination in all kinds of modern enterprise.

These groups exist in various parts of the United States. There are the Connecticut group, the Ohio Select List, the Michigan group, the Wisconsin League, several in the South, an organization of weeklies in Montana, and others less known. These groups, as a rule, have come into being somewhat as did our own Editorial Association, and existed first as a clearing-house of ideas, with occasional meetings, programs, etc., with some at tempt to improve newspaper conditions by inﬂuencing legislation, introducing cost accounting systems, raising ethical standards and similar undertakings.

Is the Group Effective?

The most recent development in the activities of such organizations, and the one in which the writer is especially interested, is the application of the “group” to the problem of “foreign” or national advertising.

In this respect, is the “group” effective? Are they getting anywhere? Do the newspapers forming the group get more advertising from the agencies than they would if they were not members of the group?

The writer put these questions to some forty of the space buyers in the largest advertising agencies in the United States, and received various answers. That is but natural, however, as agencies differ as much as individuals in their responsiveness to solicitation. Many of the space buyers with whom I talked answered at once, “The newspaper groups? They’re not getting anywhere. We never use them. We have our own plans, our own sources of information, and we are independent of such efforts.”

But these men did not compose the ma

Furthermore, the “Wisconsin Newspaper League,” as it is called, is a pioneer in movements of this kind, and is today taking the most vigorous and progressive steps toward obtaining more foreign advertising for its members.

The latest, and by all odds the most

jority of those I interviewed, nor were they, in my estimation, the most intelli gent of the lot. The more thoughtful of the space buyers-—those who could see

important venture of the Wisconsin league, is the creation of a merchandis ing department, with a manager of long experience in such work, the purpose of which is, to use the words of their own

the situation outside of their own job— answered something like this: “I believe

in these groups. Most of them are new and are yet ﬂoundering a bit, trying to ﬁnd the best way of obtaining results. But they are making a distinct impres

publicity, “to merchandise the state of

sion.

forming the league, to collect statistical material, make trade investigations, se

Wisconsin.” This means, of course, to promote in every way possible the in

terests of advertisers in the newspapers

It is true that we rarely, if ever,

use a group in its entirety. But the group commands attention where the in dividual would not. The most important

cure dealer cooperation, obtain window displays, assist salesmen to cover the ter

ritory, check up on results, and aid in every other way possible.

work that the group can do is in the way of promotion. We, as advertising men, are just as responsive to good publicity as anyone else. If a group puts over a

This undertaking is simply an attempt

to do for a group what has been done, and with very great success, by great metropolitan papers. It is too early to

vigorous publicity campaign, it has a very measurable eﬁect on the agency men. A group can get farther than the individual members of the group acting independent

say what success has attended the at tempt so far. It may be—p1-obahly will

ly. Yes, I believe in them.” An exception to the statement that groups are rarely used in their entirety is found in the “Ohio Select List.” This organization, composed of larger cities in a compact territory, is a favorite “trying out” ground for marketing and advertising eﬁorts. Its nearness to a

be—that a year or two may pass before the plan has proved itself. This much seems sure: the principle is sound; and if the principle is sound, failure can come

only through mismanagement or failure of the newspapers to cooperate. The latter, according to the secretary of the League, who has been identiﬁed with the

great distributing center (Chicago), com bined with a uniformity of conditions, makes it an ideal field for testing a new product with the merchandising and ad

organization from the beginning, and is largely responsible for its success, is more likely to occur than the former. It is far easier to ﬁnd a successful manager

vertising plans that have been formulat ed for its sale. The association that presents the best example, perhaps, is that of the Wis consin group. The conditions surround ing this group, including the size of the

than it is to keep a large group of news paper publishers working in peace and harmony.

communities and the general economic and social character, are more like those

The undertaking

of

the

Wisconsin

League is a highly important experiment.

The writer of this article is himself in tensely interested in it, and will be glad to keep the newspaper men of Oregon in

in Oregon than are those in other groups

formed of such developments as they may

of which the writer has some knowledge.

appear.

[2]

OREGON AN IDEAL PLACE FOR THE COUNTRY NEWSPAPER

By N. J. LEVINSON
Associate Editor Portland Telegram

[Paper read by Mr. Levinson before the 1922 Convention of the Oregon State Editorial Association.]

YOU may be asking yourselves why a man who has passed most of his working years in Portland would presume to speak of Oregon, outside of Portland, as an ideal ﬁeld for the country newspaper. To plunge into my topic, I make bold to say that Oregon is the best field I know for a daily or weekly whose editor wants to shoot straight always. I base this fact, or opinion, if you wish, in part on the civilization of Oregon as I have seen it; in part on what I have absorbed by contact with several intellectual and spiritual leaders; and in part on occasional excursions into Oregon history.

Of course, I have to assume that I am speaking to a group of men who in good faith intend to keep their pledge, made some months ago, to conduct their newspapers according to the code laid down by the Oregon State Editorial Association—to respect it as a guide in spirit, if not in letter.

In one respect, the civilization of Oregon differs from that of any other section of the Union,—for that matter, from any other part of the world,—for this is the only country where earliest permanent settlement was made by missionaries. In all other new countries trade followed the ﬂag, and the missionary followed the trader, but in the “Oregon Country” the missionaries who undertook the work of carrying Christianity to the Indians declared that the only way this task could be accomplished was for the missionaries to attach themselves to the soil to build homes, rear children, and plant and reap crops.

In the first heavy immigration, particularly that of 1843, the American spirit was joined with the missionary spirit. The immigrants who founded an American state at Champoeg were a religious people. Most of them were the progeny of men and women to whom the Bible was a rule of conduct, and whether they had received the beneﬁt of the higher education or stopped with the elementary grades, they had well-grounded ethical principles. They drew a sharp line between what is right and what is wrong, and though they differed on many things they were at one on doing the right thing be tween man and man.

It would be foolish for me to declare that the people of Oregon in the mass are better citizens than you will ﬁnd in the other states west of the Mississippi, but I venture to say this, that there is a larger number of men and women in Oregon, in proportion to the whole population, imbued with the pioneer spirit than in any other section of the United States.

Environment is Favorable

About forty-two years ago, soon after