Milford chronicle., 1928-06-01
DON'T LAUGH AT
"PERSONAL" PAGE,
SAYS CROWELL

MEMPHIS, TENN, May 29-Page
It of personals" in local newspaper
e are nothing to be laughed at by Gym
e ical city journalists. They represent
in their own community, the SAM
n basic interest for which all newspa
g per or magazine readers crave ant
= fundamentally that interest is uni
q versally the same.
This was the message delivered Il
2 the annual convention of the Nation
l al Editorial Association by Merle
Crowell, editor of The American
= Magazine today
"The major thrills of life aren't
many" declared Mr.. Crowell, "and
so we have to pile up the minor
thrills whenever we can. One of the
J minor thrills always comes from
J knowing any local happening while
it's still news. And, as far as that
goes, it doesn't make much differ
ence if we know the facts already.
have seen thousands Of people
pouring out of the Polo grounds or
the Yankee Stadium after a double
header baseball game, and most of
them buying and reading eagerly the
baseball extras that merely chroni-
cled play by play the first game of
the doubleheader which they had
just seen with their own eyes. Of
course when we're reading our To-
cal paper there is always the chance
that we may see our own names or
the names of some of our relatives
or intimate friends. And that's a
thrill that never grows old.
my conviction is" continued Mr..
CrOwell, that mentally we are all
pretty much alike in our fundamen-
tai tastes whether we live IN North
Newport, Maine, or in Park Avenue,
New York City. By that 1 don't
mean that the people of North New
port and the people of Park Avenue
read exactly the same. things any
more than they wear exactly the
same things. Overalls and dinner
coats are both useful garments, but
they are not interchangeable. Their
fundamental purpose, however, is to
conceal the human frame with the
maximum of satisfaction to the
wearer-a purpose in which, if you
ask me, overalls win by wide mar
gin. But when it comes to motiva-
ton and basic interests, peoples
post Office addresses are the least
important things about them. The
same wheels and cogs make them
tick-tock whether their mail is de- !
livered by a gold-braided hall boy or
by R. F. D. man chugging labor
iously through three feet of spring
mud.
"All human beings are ego-centric.
They are not half as much interested
in you and your ideas as they are in
themselves and their own ideas.
That's why good listeners are so (
popular. People like to read about
the experiences of human beings
provided that they can
translate these experiences into
terms of their own daily life, their
work and their recreations."
Mr.. Crowell cited an occasion
upon which he asked the readers of
his magazine to tell what they liked
about it and in the answers, which
came from people of all ages, en-
DlOyers and employees and persons
If every condition and circum-
stance, he found that almost all of
hem had used the same three words
inspiration" and
{
'I am inclined," he told the con- {
-ention members, Ito believe that
hese same three words cover the
'asic desires that make people turn t
o any kind Of reading matter whe- .
her it be a book, national maga-
inc or a country newspaper. In the
ase of the newspaper, information
ONES first. You are fortunate,> in
ICED, in serving those who, for the
1ost part live in small enough COM
lunities so that the word 'neighbor'
Iasn't gone out of fashion. In our
ural reaches every man, woman
nd child is interested in knowing
That every other man, woman and
hild is doing.
'The late John M. Stiddall who
ave me the groundwork of most of
ne things I know about serving the
ublic in print declared that the
My thing that interests all human
eings always, is the human being
imself. II
" Newspapers he said, ARE read
idely because the individual reader
ees himself constantly in the paper.
do not mean that he sees his own
anne. mean that he reads about
lings happening to individuals
hich might happen to him, and he
eeps comparing himself with what
2 reads.
Country newspapers have enor-
GUS circulation in proportion to
le population they reach. 1t is not
1commOn for half or three-quarters
the people in little town to take
le village paper. The reason is OBJ
ous-the country paper is person.
to It's readers. Its columns are
most like private letter from a
ember of the family. If a New
ork newspaper could get that close
its readers it could have three
illion circulation.
"a magazine or a newspaper is a
rvice-just as the telephone or
ectric light is a SERVICE" said Mr.. |
Dwell. Sometimes a man may not
e it very much, just as he may not
e very much the telephone hang
g on the wall or sitting on the Iiv-
g room table. But he likes to know
is there, just as he likes to know
e telephone is there. Even if his
siness keeps him so tied dp that
can't find time to read, or he has
,kness or other troubles to occupy
5 mind and time, he will pick up
2 magazine or neWspaper occa-