El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-02-08

n newspapers have been IL indicted Gsl5d
- by the "TrOtter and PAGER mag
azine, in a recent editorial. on the
! charge Of having forgotten the harness
game; Of ignoring it almost entirely in
their news columns
1T is entirely safe to saw" asserts
the edittrial, in part, that there is NOT
a famous stallion in this country or a
last performer which would be known
outside OF his own narrow local sphere.
were it not for the publicity given TO
him by the turf papers"
IN way the TrOtter and PAGER is
right Inc newspapers do not give very
much publicity to the harness game.
but the fault does not lie with the
newspaper. 1t lies with the officials
OF the grand circuit, and the other har-
ness horse organizations who fail to
realize that publicity means life for
game Of sport.
Thirty years or so ago the harness
game was among the leaders, in the
sporting field 1t got as much pub
Hclty as baseball, football, pugflisra
ana other sports. In some sections
IL got more. But since that era, those
Other sports have come to the fore with
a wonderful rush and practically havs
crowded the light harness racing news
off the sporting pass
Officials at Fault.
The explanation for that is simple
ne men Connected with baseball, foot
ball, puglnsm, golf, tennis and thar
sports came to realize the value 81
publicity-and they organized plans TO
get II. They didn't wait for the papers
to come to them. They went to the
newspapers and kept them informed at
all times Of their dOings. But the IighC
harness racing officials are asleep.
Ihey seem to ignore the existence OF
newspapers
Every big college today maintains a
a in D. g.ae
1t IS the duty Of that department to
supply the newspapers with news and
pictures concerning all the athletics
IN that college. Those bureaus labor
increasingly 10 gain newspaper pub
Lefty
Baseball Clubs Are Alert.
The baseball clubs have secretaries
whose business it is to inform the
newspapers Of every move that cluD
makes. It sends out every item OF news
it can. realizing that publicity is the
food that nOurishes the gains. Each
year the leagues send out to every
newspaper in the country the Statistics
covering each player during the past
season and they also send their sched-
ules to each newspaper in the country.
No meeting ever takes place without
all the papers being informed as - the
date and place
Practically every pugilist OF note in
the country has press agent. 1t is
his job to gt publicity for his men. He
bombards the newspapers with pictures
and stories and he is content if he can
see IN print one out Of every ten stories
that he sends. Every club in the coun-
try that stages pugilistic bouts also is
an entry in the race for newspaper
publicity.
Others Seek Publicity.
The same thing Is true concerning
the golf and tennis officials. They are
alive. They, too. are among those who
realize the value of newspaper pub
Lefty. They don't wait for the news
papers to seek them out; they seek out
the newspapers.
But how vastly different Is the at
titude Of the light harness racing Of
1lcials- Not only are they minus \
publicity department. but they consist
entity ignore the newspapers when they
have highly important news to dis
pense In some instances, they even
balk attempts Of the newspapers to
get trOtting news. They seem uncon-
scious Of the fact that new era has
come; one in which a sport shall live
and thrive-Or die-according to the
amount Of newspaper publicity IL gets
Here is an instance Of the way il
conducts itself toward newspapers:
The grand circuit the biggest trot-
ting Organiza tiOn in the world, recently
named its 1916 meeting dates, yet we
daresay the circuit didn't go to the
trouble of sending those dates to 4
dozen Of the newspapers in the country.
ton adopted some new and important
rules. but the stewards didn't send out
the news to the newspapers in general :
In dozen other ways do the officials
ignore the newspapers.
The trotting game has been losing in
popularity through the past 20 years
because the newspapers gradually have
ceased giving II big space. A new gem
Grafton has arisen during that period.
II the trottlng people had sOught-and
fought for-newspaper publicity they
would have secured it and thus re-
cruited to its thinning ranks many OF
the new generation But they haven't.
TrOttinG Game Deserves support.
The trotttng game is one Of the
cleanest and squarest in the sporting
world today. The men connected with
It rank among the finest spOrtsmen in
the country. The game itself is one
IF thrills. one that brings together that
wonderful combination Of man and
animal; real sport-the
sport Of kings; 1t is game that should
that should increase in pOpu-
arity year after year. But il doesn't
simply because the men behind il seem
unaware Of the fact that newspaper
publicity is life; because they lack an
plan to get it.
The trOtting officials feel that be- ~
,ause theirs is a game that is straight
newspaper support without seeking il.
They probably are unaware of the fact
hat the newspapers each day get three
lines as much sporting news from tho
publicity bureau of baseball, football,
golf. tennis, boxing, etc. as they can
print. Therefore, they are not in
mood to spend a lot OF time pursuing