Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-10-07

tinued patronage from the advertiser
because it makes his advertising
more profitable. The local rate
should be high enough to cover COM
position charges and it may seem
advisable to make this composition
charge, in part at least, the conces-
sion granted the local advertiser over
the plate of the foreign advertiser
to whom every copy of the news
paper has value.
The newspaper should be a real
newspaper. actually covering in a
news sense the territory which it is
presumed to cover. No advertiser
should be expected to ally himself
with self-edited newspaper which
means no editing whatever. If we
expect advertising in our weekly pa-
pers we must expect the publicity
to return its maximum Of possibili-
ties to our advertiser. Advertising
Is read when it Is in a readable pa
per. a newspaper that has life even
IL published in small center. There
fore we owe it to the advertiser to
issue a live newspaper in which we
print the news of our territory in an
attractive form. properly proportion
cd, and with suitable display heads.
Merchandise moves from the dealers
shelves when it is properly DISPLAYED
and made attractive in a we'll kept
store. Advertising talks when it is
we'll displayed in newsy and we'll
printed newspaper. The louder we
can make it talk the more certain is
our success as publishers. There can
be no good excuse for dead pages in
q live weekly newspaper. If we have
lifeless pages, just to be filled up any
old way, we must expect dead rates
Oh dead patronage. a news section
that is read means that the advertis-
ing will be read also. We owe it to
the advertiser to make our newspa-
per so attractive that it will all be
read.
Doubtless many papers represent
ed here today are published in COM
munities where the merchants have
their publicity men but most of our
weekly papers are not SO favored.
In such cases the publishers may CO.
operate to an extent for which it
AiA"s w SeAiA NASy diC ilCL paul, YET
1t will return them a generous pro-
portion of patronage. I believe we
all have merchants who would like
to advertise but who are stumped
completely or handicapped in the pre-
paration of copy.
Then help them out. Speaking
from my own experience, such CO.
operation brings me a real income
that otherwise would be lost.
We have heard recently of an Ad-
vertising agency known as the Select
Country Weekly Association with the
professed platform Of interesting the
national advertisers in list, of the
better weekly newspapers. l for one
trust it succeeds. I think >the better
weekly newspapers have too long
been held down by the inferior ones
and that the general advertiser has
come to do business with all Of us on
the level of our slip shod representa-
tives. If the foreign advertiser will
come to 4irmer selective basis and
treat with each of us as we individu-
ally deserve. it will be a survival of
the fittcst and the inferior organs
will either raise their standards in
order to secure business or pass off
the map.
In conclusion. the weekly news
paper owes it to the advertiser to
charge a fair rate with the same
price for similar service. based on n
stated circulation. to issue a clean
and well printed newspaper in which
advertising is properly displayed, and
to bend every effort to make the
paper a successful salesman for the
advertiser. We must stick to our
rates and stick to our rules but VIC
must cooperate to the last degree
When we have done all this, we have
raised the standard of our publica-
tions, added to the interest and sat
isfaction in our work and added, too,
something to our bank account The
more we can do for our advertisers,
the more We do for ourselves
Let us be keen to avoid ruts and
to put the best there is in us into
our work. The small town merchant
/ has no masses from whom to draw
q steady stream of patrons into his
store. He has no Washington street
and no Broadway. The publisher of
! the small town newspaper will find
it no simple task. doing his utmost.
to make the merchants stories mon
ey makers. Therefore he should al
ways play fair and square and use
all the means at his command so that
when the advertiser has paid him
dollar the advertiser has another
dollar or two left as his dividend in
the transaction.
A. F. Sherman
A. +. Sherman, of the Bar Harbor
program. Mr.. Sherman said that he
felt that the meetings were attended
by select list of the country news
papers whereas those needing the
help which the meeting could give
did not come.
Another impression Of the meetings
which he had. he continued was that
tie larger part of the discussion was
upon job work and business admin
istration rather than on the news end
of the game. He felt that more time
might be devoted to making the news
end of the paper more interesting.
To this end. he has studied the
various papers which come to him
as exchanges. to see what they we're
doing. The larger part of them handle
their local news in good style but
with a vast difference of treatment.
Some use but few heads over their
news while others increase the in
terest by using heads much after the
manner of daily. On his own paper