opportunity is given to deny rumors and aid the institution. Strangers, men of prominence and those seeking investment daily call at the banks, yet most bankers pass up this as a matter of course and do not even tell the reporters. They should, if they wish to aid the community in which they live and do business, phone, or better still take the party over to the newspaper office and thus aid the town and the prospective business man, investor and homeseeker. Visitors appreciate this courtesy and the banker would make a fast friend as well help his town. Some few bankers do this and the editor who is in touch with these is indeed fortunate.
Few banks are so strong that they could stand criticism from a newspaper, yet these same men ofttimes ignore this power until danger approaches and then they remember the moulders of public opinion.
Regarding job work, most bankers fall for every salesman that comes along and even though preaching “keep your money at home" send to Kansas or Iowa for much of their stationery. We have been fortunate in this respect the past year, and have supplied the local bank with much of its needs along this line. Just finished printing a job of drafts for it and while the price is somewhat higher than some of the specialty shops offer, the work is better.
We have gone after the business and secured it; others could do likewise.
HOW PUBLICITY MANAGERS SEEK TO AID THE NEWSPAPER REPORTERS
IT IS sometimes of advantage to a newspaper man to be able to get the angle of the man on the other side of the story—the party of the second part, the news source. The set of directions given to Oregon commercial club secretaries by members of the faculty of the University of Oregon School of Journalism on “How to be a Good News Source” may serve to give a line on how the news source who has material he wishes to get into print keeps his contact with the newspapers. Some of these ideas might be of service to newspapermen in training certain types of news sources. Here they are:
HOW TO BE A GOOD NEWS SOURCE
1. Know as much as possible of the story you are trying to tell.
2. Know where the rest of the material can be obtained.
3. Count that day lost on which you do not give out either a story or a tip of a story. You should make an effort to give out continuous news about the Chamber.
4. Keep in touch with all classes in your community—at least all reputable classes. Cultivate a sympathy with their interests and soon you will know all about them.
5. Don’t forget the names; get them all straight.
6. Don’t ask that a story be suppressed unless you are sure that as a newspaperman you would be willing to suppress it.
7. Remember that the big idea is to get publicity for the Chamber and for the town, and not for any salaried officer of the Chamber. It is more effective for the executive officers of the Chamber to get the credit for the work of the Chamber in news stories.
8. Don't get excited when is story is cut smaller than you think it should be. Even if cutting it is an error, it may not be the reporter’s fault.
9. While the reporter usually prefers to be told a story rather than to have it written for him, it is often important to have the facts prepared in written form to insure accuracy and to aid the reporter in getting a background on the story.
10. If the newspaper men in your town are too busy to give the Chamber the attention it deserves, write your own news; don ’t go for days without anything in the papers about the Chamber.[3]
