The Washington herald., 1921-05-22
NEWS GOVERNED
BYINTERESTOF
GENERAL PUBLIC
Budget of Every Family
Affected by Relation
ase To Property.
FAITH MUST BE KEPT
Realtor Gains by Giving Re-
porters His Full Con-
49, fidence.
By DON GOss,
OF National Association of Real
Extate boards


OF National Association of Real
Estate boards
Real estate boards and the real
estate business, generally speaking
do not obtain the publicity to which
they are entitled. The responsible
ity for this state of affairs should
not be placed at any one door
There are instances in which news
paper editors and others seem in
fcredibly slow to appreciate what Is
news and Of what the public wishes
TO be informed. In 4 large measure.
however, failure to obtain proper
publicity is due to a lack of knowl-
edge on the part Of real estate men
of some of the fundamentals and
the technique of publicity and a
failure to appreciate the relation
ship that should be maintained with
those whose business it is to keep
the public informed.
knows by Experience.
,, =. Advertising. public speaking, tht
news columns OF the daily news
papers. public service and many
other forms OF activity may prop
erly be called publicity. Publicity
embraces a wide field. The news
columns of the daily newspapers
are the greatest and most effective
media of publicity. l wish to dis
cuss the relationship of the realty
interests to publicity, combining my
remarks to the field of the news
columns have no intention of
entering on a theoretical discussion
Of publicity. but to give to realtors
from an experience of ten years in
the newspaper profession some
practical suggestions in regard to
cooperation with editors and re-
~porters, and few dos" and
s"don'ts" that may in many in
stances rescue their efforts from the
. editorial waste basket and place
them in the news columns.
Newspapers generally consider
worth printing any information
that will interest considerable
part Of the public. The fact that
the printing of news may result IN
financial gain to some persons does
not materially alter the case, al
though it may to some extent
qualify its treatment by news
papers. Theatrical, automobile and
sporting news comes under this
classification.
Interests the Public.
Real property is so per cent Of
the wealth of the United States.
The budget of every family in the
United States is affected by the
condition of real property. Real
estate boards exist for the uplift
Of the real estate profession. Cor
the protection and the service of
the public Therefore information
in regard to real property or real
estate board activity is of interest
to a large part of the public.
To be effective in a big way the
real estate business and real estate
boards must have the support of the
public. To this end Intelligent pub
licity is a powerful force There is
no human endeavOr that cannot be
materially assisted or injured by
publicity. For this reason it is well
worth while for real estate men to
study publicity and to acquaint
themselves with at least some of its
fundamental principles
OF first Importance is the matter
OF establishing confidence between
yourself and the editor or reporter.
Always come clean.' You might
victimize a newspaper one time with
your loss in prestige and the conse-
quent publicity would much more
than offset any temporary advan-
tage of that nature. Strive to bring
about such a relationship that the
editor will have implicit faith in any
statement Of fact. because you make
1t. This can be brought about by
scrutinizing closely for absolute ac-
curacy all matter you submit for
publication.
Time Important Element.
The element of time is of utmost
Importance in the publishing of a
daily newspaper. Often there is not
time before gong to press for veri-
fcation of motives and details of a
STORY" Proper confidence on the
part of an editor in the man who is
responsible for the story will over
come this difficulty.
Do not attempt to force your way
into the news column with matter
that is purely advertising or rela-
lively unimportant news on the
ground that you pay for a certain
amount of advertising. You prob
ably have value received for what
you pay. 1t will cause the editor to
scrutinize more closely. and with
suspicion, such publicity as NAV
with propriety be submitted. You
do not feel kindly towards the man
who tries to avoid the pavement of
your commission on a real estate
transaction because he has paid you
certain funds for insurance or for
other business Buying advertising
space is not purchasing an eJitorial
privilege.
Take the reporter OF the editor