Evening star., 1936-07-19
Expert Is Sent to Topeka
TO Coach GO. P.Nominee
Action to Improve Microphone Style Taken
to Meet Good Broadcast Personality
of Roosevelt
The Radio Editor.

the radio speaking manner Of Gov.
ALI Landon when he delivers his
i address Of acceptance OF the Re"
publican nomination for President
over combined hook-ups Of 200 or
more broadcasting stations from To-
peka next Thursday, you can credit 1t
to the coterie Of extremely radio
. wise newspaper and advertising men
who are gathered about him as ad-
visers and workers in the campaign.
G. o. P. headquarters personnel are
reluctant to talk about it, but the
fact is that even before the Cleve-
land convention an expert in radio
began coaching Gov. Landon in the
finer points of radio speechmaking.
The expert was dispatched to Topeka
for the task by Hill Blackett, head
of one of the big Chicago advertising
agencies, who last week was appointed
director of public relations for the Re-
publican National Committee.
Mr.. Blackett is one of the group OF
preconvention Landon men, and he
knows the artificeS of radio as few
W, lUI lIS dSCllSy ouiAAA6 eAAS
last two years has led all others in
what the trade calls the placing of
radio accounts" AS a personal friend
of the Kansas Governor and from his
vast experience in radio, Mr.. Blackett
was manifestly aware from the start
that something had to be done to
improve the Landon microphone style
4F laf i've
broadcast personality of President
Roosevelt.
OF course, too studied manner on
the Republican nominees part may
detract from the common man" idea
the Republicans are trying to foster.
On the other hand, Gov. Landon's few
public speeches and radio addresses
have been marked by strident. high
pitched and colorless delivery and
have not conduced to the holding of
audience attention. His early speeches
led some radio men to describe Gov.
Landons radio personality as being as
!. colorless as Coolidges, one calling him
q "cornfield speaker"
Against the intimate yet polished
especially as evidenced in his several
fireside talks, it was plain to Gov.
Landon's advisers that their man had
to learn more about the peculiar de-
inands of radio. They sent their
expert to Topeka, confident that they
had good material to work with, for
Gov. Landon's conversational voice is
good one, pleasant and warm.
The stress is being laid upon radio
in this campaign because the radio
in the last three national elections
has brought out the greatest votes
in all American history and it is
obviously impossible for the candidates
. to talk to all of the voters from pub
lie platforms between now and No
vember. Thus both the Republicans
and Democrats have intimated that
their budgets for radio time will far
exceed the half-million dollars that
each spent in 1882.
Gov. LANDON'S other advisers
besides Mr.. Blackett, include A.
H. Kirchhofer, managing editor of the
Buffalo News. who has been appoint
ed G. o. P. director of publicity" in
its news phases and who knows radio
well as operator Of WHEN. Buffalo,
. and of WEBR, which his newspaper
purchased only few weeks ago in
the same city; Roy Roberts, man.
aging editor of the Kansas City Star,
q former fellow Washington cores
pondent with Mr.. Kirchhofer, who
has always taken keen interest in
his newspapers WDAF;; Oscar S.
Stauffer, publisher of nine Middle
Western newspapers, one Of which op-
crates a radio station. and Senator
Arthur Capper, whose Topeka Capital
and Kansas City (kans) Kansan
both operate radio stations.
Radio becomes a paid advertising
medium after the notifications of
Landon next Thursday and Knox
from Chicago the Thursday follow
ing. G. o. P. and Democrats alike
thereafter will be obliged to buy
time like any other concern seeking
to sell services or commodities via
the wave lengths. Mr.. Blackett, who
handles all paid advertising, already
has contracted with Columbia Broad
casting System for five quarter-hour
periods per week during the cam
paign. He plans to place Republican
speakers on the air over that nation
wide system at 7 O'Clock, eastern
daylight time, every Monday, Tues
day. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday
night. He is now dickering for reg
ular political periods over the other
chains also.
In addition, Mr.. Blackett is arrang-
ing to purchase time over local sta
tions in all of the cities John M.
Hamilton, G. o. P. chairman and
Landon's right-hand man, will visit
during his forthcoming tour of the
country. To aid him in his radio
plans Mr.. Blackett has established
Theodore F. Allen as chief of the
radio division in New York headquar-
ters. He transferred Mr. Allen from
Washington and at the same time he
ordered Thomas G. Sabin and John w.
Elwood to transfer to Chicago head
quarters under his direct SUPER
vision.
Mr.. Sabin for the last year was
radio director Of the Republican Ma
tional Committee as an appointee of
former Chairman Fletcher Mr.. FL
wood bore the title Of eastern program
director. They were the men who
staged the Liberty at the Cross
roads" dramatized radio series last
Spring which the big networks de-
clined to carry even on a paid basis
and which brought forth such bitter
criticism from Mr.. Fletcher. Although
both are former National Broadcast
ing Co. men, Mr. Elwood having once
been an N. B. c. vice president, the
networks were openly provoked at
their insistence upon broadcasting
dramatized versions of politics and
this Is believed to have led to their
transfer to Chicago under Mr..
Blackett.
TT COST major networks approx