The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-02-05
PRESS AGENT HAS LOST HIS CUNNING His Literature Is no Longer us in Demand NEW FIELD OPENED Great Men Now Need Assistants to Tell Them What Not to Say
 Rather Than What
 to Say
NEW FIELD OPENED
By WALTER HARPER
to Say

Washington, February (Speeial)-The press agent is modern institution. For a number of years the procession or trade has been one of the most active In the country. But its usefulness has been short lived for the reason that it has been grossly overdone.
 The business, while still very active in some quarters, is rapidly losing it's ef- ficiency.
 In recent years the man or institution
 that tried to struggle along without It's
 well regulated press agent was back
 number-an antique. Great corporations
 and individually conducted congressmen- even town aldermen have had their press agents They will have them. but their goods are no longer in demand. Newspapers a few years ago were glad to get the stuff sent out by these enter
 prising press agents. The stuff is usually well prepared, attractive and in fine shape
 for "flling" purposes Sometimes, aye, generally it is constructed in such art
 full manner that the advertising point Is concealed. A story that looks like live news story Is but clever advertise
 ment, and a cracking good boost for some man or interest.
 But the newspapers soon got tired of so
 much of it. The public got wise to the
 deception and the press agent got in dis favor.
 Held in reasonable bounds the press agent is a valuable institution. A well
 balanced press agent is often more clever l than his employer and saves him from
 many embarrassing situations. Some of ficials nigh in public life would do well
 to maintain an enterprising, well balanced press agent. The duty of the agent should
 be to edit out his employers public utter
 ances rather than to secure yoluminous
 publicity. The publicity agent that pre- vents publicity rather than encourages it | is often the more valuable.
 The average newspaper office is flooded 1 every morning or evening with loads of 1 publicity matter from almost every im- l aginable source. In recent years but lit- 1 tie of this stuff ever finds it's way into | the printed columns of the real prominent
 papers.
 l Prepared editorials find their way to the 1 editors desk. They are cleverly written l and offered with diplomacy that has l captured many an editorial writer who
 was too lazy to prepare his own editorials. The Washington correspondent is not exempt from liberal notice from the press | agent His mornings mail Is flooded with 1 matter on every conceivable subject. The movement for the ratification of the peace treaties now before the Senate is one of the most actively boosted proposi- | tions just now. The location of the pub licity agency is not located. Much of the | stuff is anonymous, but all of 1t is clev- | erly prepared. There are something like | 200 newspaper correspondents in Wash
 ington and every one of them is on the
 lists of the publicity agents. Indeed, for i this purpose the Congressional Directory, which carries q list of the accredited cor respondents, finds it's way into the head | quarters oi every man and institution that wants 10 keep in touch with the press. Corrected lists seem to reach the press | agents in New York and Boston before
 the directory is actually in the hands of I the correspondents themselves. ! The fact that practically all this ready made publicity stuff is consigned to the
 correspondents waste basket without the courtesy of perusal does not seem to de- | ter the press agent whose duty is to get l It out, not to force it down the throat IS | of the victims.
 A certain candidate for President of
 the United States has one of the most active press bureaus in the country just now. The mails are flooded with stuff from this office Great bundles of it clog the waste baskets of the Washington | correspondents. It attracts but little at tentioii.
 1t consists principally of reproduced | newspaper clippings and interviews. No newspaper man has time to read all this stuff even If he be inclined to use some ot It which Is clearly not within the scope Of his duty as a newsgatherer The manufacture and dissemination of
 all this stun is simply a waste of energy. There was time when it was effective.
 but that time has passed. Publicity pro motors must find some new and novel method.
 The activity of the modern press agent would surprise the man who Is not fa> miliar with the art and methods persued