Evening star., 1937-06-20
j. S. PROPAGANDA
MACHINE IS HIT
Resett|ement Publicity Aide
Urges Changes in $780,.
600 System.

WV SyoANtIts
The inside story of what is wrong"
with the s5o0,000 Government pub
lcity industry appeared in maga-
zine today, over the signature of
Arch A. Mercy. assistant director Of
information at the Resettlement ad-
ministration, and for two years a
government publicist.
"Streamline the Federal publicity
machine and make 1t a vehicle of
greater usefulness" Mercy, whose ar
tlcle is said to have the approval of
his superiors, urges in the July issue
OF Public Opinion Quarterly. The
article tries to be helpfully suggestive,
rather than critical
Intelligent propakandizing Of Gov
ernmental information is urged in
the same magazine by Lawrence West
brook, former assistant administrator
OF the Work Progress Administration,
who takes to task the early publicity
men Of the w. P. A. for their in
terest In releasing news rather than
In educating the public to under
stand the New Deal point of view.
Westbrook wrote:
From news standpoint, the most
interesting part Of the w. P. A. pro-
gram was the announcement Of the
approval Of specific work projects
There were more than 100000 such
approvals. Nearly every individual
approval rated page l In the local
newspaper.
Holds Wrong Idea Stressed.
The results OF this devotion to
news value was extremely unfortunate.
The general public very quickly for
got that the real purpose Of the
works program was to provide work
Tor the destitute unemployed Two
hundred thousand front-page stories
carried the implied idea that w. AS
primary purpose was construction of
public works. The public impress
sion became associated with a false
idea both Of cost and Of purpose"
After several months, however,
Westbrook recalled, the w. P. A. pub
ncity policy changed and "a concerted
enort was put forth by administrative
ofdcials all over the country to clear
up MISUNDERSTANDING" Westbrook
concluded:
THE Importance of a well-planned
program for the dissemination Of in
formation Is demonstrated by these
dd11culties Of the w. P. A. II instead
OF emphasizing the approval of spe-
enc projects In the early news re-
leases, the emphasis had been put
upon the putting OF the destitute un-
employed to work, it would have
largely prevented criticism regarding
the value OF the projects and the
emu'ency OF the work and would have
eliminated one of the most misunder-
stood Of the presidential election
issues"
Coordination Need Seen.
In the Federal Government there
exists an acute need for coordination
both intra and interdepartmentally
Mercy wrote. IT each department
were functionally organized and prop
erly co-ordinated, the general task
OF interdepartmental cooperation
and coordination would be greatly
facilitated. The Presidents Reor-
gan1zation Committee has made rec
concentrations that would 20 far in
remedytng this chaotic conflict."
In the magazine, which Is a pub
1ication Of the Princeton University
School OF Public Affairs, Mercy
makes these three principal suepes-
tions for improvement:
l. Coordination of technical serv-
Ices into unit organizations.
2. Coordination of policy matters
for general press and public infor-
nation
=. 8. Reduction OF present informa-
ton staf1s to operating minimums.
with co-ordinated service opera
lions it would not be necessary for
each department to have personnel
performing technical duties" Mercy
argues In behalf Of reducing costs.
He continued:
The STATS would be information
,oncers. capable of finding information,
preparing data for writer's, guiding in
vest1gators to source material, etc.
{ Would Open Oficial Doors"
Moreover, the press should have
more access to administrative officials.
1t may be necessity of odern
bureaucracy, but am yet to be per-
~suaded that responsible officials are
incapable of speaking for themselves,
II policy is adverse to the public
interest, the sooner it is revealed and
critically examined, the better will
oe the ultimate results to taxpayers
and the agency itself.
News men should be all wed more
access to sources of information, This
policy Is not inconsistent with the
planning of well-articulated public
Information policy. More access to
omciab would remove much of the
charge that information stats act
as buffers in delaying or preventing
publication of information in the pub
lie interest.
>. TOO often butang becomes bluff
: ing and tmpairs the confidence OF
9 news men in Government press rep-
: resentatives."
q mercy Is young Indianan who
mas been In the newspaper and pub
u Acity business for almost 10 wears
sA>41e hold . law degree from the Uni
I verslty OF Illinois, once edited the
: SVincennes, Ind. Times, ghost-wrote
IL tor . tombstone manufacturer. a con-
a -servationist. a sculptor and a num-
y Der Of politicians. He Joined Reset
p tlement in May, 1885, and has worked
under three information chiefs-John
- Sranklln Carter, now a columnist:
Kenneth Clark, Will H. Hays pub
. Acist, and M. E. Gilfond.
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I'D. c. MANUFACTURING
NJ