The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1920-05-12
HAVE YOU NET THEM2


s'There is not newspaper having
served the public, even handful of
years, which has not at one or.another
time received letter from some irate
reader demanding that his paper be
stopped because of its incessant pub
fishing the name Of certain men. Every
paper knows the class and kind of a
man he usually Is. But all papers have
not taken the pains to let him know,
and the public know. as did the Butler
County (Ga-) Herald, the other day
when II received such a demand from
IA subscriber" says the Tampa Tribune.
That paper took day or too off
and investigated its files. and then
told Mr.. Man why he had not appeared
in its columns Here is part OF what
the Herald told: We searched our files
but we must own UP that the only time
he has ever broken into the paper was
by the help OF somebody else.
We never mentioned the fact that
he ever won any premiums at the coun-
ty fair, because he never exhibited any
thing. We never include his name in
"a list Of committees. because he never
attended anything. We never printed
his name in list OF donors to any
thing, because he never donated any
thing, so much as doughnut'"
The Tribune comments: THE men
whose names are always in the paper
are men who do something, either good
or bad and nine and a half out of
every ten are in there because Of the
good they do. Check them yourself,
any man in Florida who doubts this
statement. And you will see that they
ho y1n In ~
themselves, their community, their
county, their state, their nation, and
their God. Why is the man who never
does anything? That is one OF the
great questions we will probably wait
to times ending to learn. Certainly
those who are doing things in this
world have not time to stop and try
to figure out the infinitesimal value
of The soul that is only a germ
The Journal comes in touch, now and
then, with another type, with which
most newspaper offices are familiar;
the man who is occasionally placed on
committees, but who does not get the
publicity he thinks he should receive.
He is the kind of man who tells you
that he does not like publicity; the sort
who frowns when a reporter enters his
office; who objects CD to the name of
his wife or daughters going into the
papers; who will tell you, with scant
courtesy, If any at all, that he does not
like either his private or business af-
fairs aired, and who seldom has
good word for the newspapers Of his
town.
He will tell you, quite frankly, and
with some pride, that he seldom reads
the local papers: when he is interest
ed in anything that would make good
news feature, he either uses his influ-
ence to keep it out of the paper, or he
to give out the details for pub
lication.
Then one day he puts over something
that would be of benefit to his bust
ness, were it known to the public, and
the newspa per passes it up. Usually
this is not intentional on the part of the
but the natural sequence Of
policy which refuses to admit the
rights of the newspapers to publish the
news.
He is placed on an important COM
mittee, and inadvertently his name is
left off; he represents the city, with
number of other men Of Importance,
but his name is not mentioned. Then
he declares that the newspapers are
mo good" inaccurate, and perhaps he
even goes SO far as to accuse them of
an intention Of keeping his name out
Of the paper.
Now the fact Of the matter is that
reporters are just human
like the rest OF US, though the general
public seems to think them sort of
centipede, with wireless connection
somewhere about them,
which automatically gets the news.
If you are going out OF town tomor-
row, unless you are going on public at
fairs, the newspaper reporter has no
possible way of finding that out, unless
he chances upon it, or someone tips
him off. He cannot call on every bust
ness man every day; and if he could
the kind of man we have in mind would
treat him with scant courtesy.
The man who is really progressive,
really interested in his town and it's
up building, is interested in his news
paper; he does not go to it today to
ask it's aid in putting over some plan
In which he is interested and then
withhold legitimate news tomorrow. He
realizes chat there is a certain COM
mercial value in having his name
mentioned in the papers in the right
way, and a certain news value in
every item concerning any known
man or his family. Any man who
does not get his share of publicity,
either does not do anything to merit
it, or else when he does, he is such
a churl that his very attitude to-
wards the world keeps him where he
belongs-in obscurity.