Sooner State Press (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 21, No. 12, Ed. 1 Saturday, December 1, 1928 Page: 4 of 4
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: University of Oklahoma Student Newspapers and was provided to The Gateway to Oklahoma History by the Oklahoma Historical Society.
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The State Field Manager’ s Page
By Harry B Rutledge
Field Manager Oklahoma Press Association
Enough
The editor stood at the pearly gate
His face looked worn and old
He meekly asked the man of fate
For admission to the fold
"What have you done?" asked Feter
“To seek admission here?"
THIS jingle has gone before the public thru the
columns of a number of Oklahoma newspapers
during the past few weeks I do not like it nor
its sentiment It has no place in the columns of any
Oklahoma newspaper in the year 1928
Time was perhaps when subscriptions and ad-
vertising were traded for cord wood potatoes apples
and groceries that it might have had a place and
told a true story But that time was not in 1928 when
the average merchant has learned the value of adver-
tising to the extent that the very papers which car-
ried this jingle were filled with six or eight pages of
advertising that totaled at least fifty per cent of the
contents of the issue
The advertisements stressed prices quality of
merchandise seasonal goods conveniences and lux-
uries of life They were well written Some of them
were written by men who draw salaries of $10000
per year or more for their services These same ad-
vertisements will be paid for the first day of next
month when the bills are presented by the publisher
"THESE issues have gone to the offices of na-
k tional advertisers as checking copies to show that
national advertising has been carried advertising that
is costing at least thirty cents per column inch The
country press is busy today trying to sell its field to
the national advertiser It is spending thousands of
dollars to put over the idea that the rural sections
of the United States offer a market of 61000000 per-
sons that rural people will buy nationally advertised
goods and that the rural press is the one medium
that can carry the message of the national advertiser
to those 61000000 people
The national advertiser has not been told about
the rural press or its possibilities Therefore he knows
little about it or its value We are trying to sell the
field to him today for we know it is a field in which
he will be interested when he knows about it The
greatest friend of the rural press the weekly and
small daily newspaper field in the United States to-
day is a man who according to a recent news story
"Oh I had to run a country paper
On earth for many a year”
The gate awung shaiply open
And Feter touched the bell
"Come in my lad and take a harp
You’ve had enough of hell"
is paid at the rate of $100 per word for his advice n
relation to advertising problems Will this jingle help
do or un-do the job of selling the national advertise!
the country advertising field?
If an advertising campaign were placed in Okla-
homa newspapers the publications carrying this jingle
would desire to be placed on the list They would
question the advisability of not putting their papers
on the schedule So would I because they can carry
that advertising message to potential buyers that no
other medium can hope to reach But enough re-
marks of the nature will keep their publications and
the publications of other publishers from figuring in
on nice campaigns coming from the foreign field
7 'HEN suppose local advertisers are planning to in-
crease their advertising lineage and find sentiment
of this nature expressed in the very medium which
they plan to use Too many local advertisers tell us
even today that they advertise only to patron:ze the
“poor" editor Such sentiments used as arguments
it is safe to state will not increase advertisers' line-
age Any publisher who puts out a worthy paper can
sell his readers on it f he stresses its service to them
and the community but I wonder if they pay their
subscriptions to help keep the “poor" editor akve
They will come nearer paying them and in advance
if they are cut off when their subscription expires
One publisher headed the jingle ENOUGH I
too believe we have had enough of such sentiment
in relation to the country newspaper and its publish-
er The country publisher has been condemned much
too long as a poor man a poor business man and a
public parasite Let’s fill our space editorial and ad-
vertising telling about the services of the paper its
power in the community and what it will do for ad-
vertisers and readers Then we can forget about the
poor editor for he will find his coffers filled to such
an extent that he needs no sympathy but will be
looked upon as the leader of the community and
the promoter of its most valuable enterprise
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Sooner State Press (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 21, No. 12, Ed. 1 Saturday, December 1, 1928, newspaper, December 1, 1928; Norman, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1824544/m1/4/?q=+%22Latimer%22: accessed July 17, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.