The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1943-03-11

Just why it should take the Ameri-
can wage earners so long to become
fully aware of the value and neces-
sity of radio is one of those Dig
mysteries which there probably is no
use trying to solve.
Radio is the fastest means of COM
municatiOn. There is no blanket that
can match it. There is no such general
listening to any other voice.
Yet organized American workers
seem to regard radio as belonging to
"the other fellow" with nothing to be
done about it.
Radio is a costly agency, for one
person to own, or to buy.
But radio isn't costly, for a million.
AS a whole and in the main, Ameri-
can wage earners think too little of
telling their story-that's what propa-
ganda really is-telling the story.
Mostly, the telling of labor's story
is in the other fellows hands today
his radio and his newspapers.
X X x
If the labor press could be sufficient
ly supported, that would be enough as
far as labor is itself concerned.
The labor press is as good as it's
readers allow it to be. When they take
more live and intelligent interest in
their weekly press, it will be stronger
and better.
AS it is, no other nation has any
| thing half as good as the American
| labor press, weekly and monthly.
Past years have seen a real i'm
provement in the labor papers.
But with few exceptions, they still
are not supported as they ought to be-
Where there is real support a good
| job is done.
But there is not Il daily newspaper
| for labor in the whole nation.
There is not publication that
speaks for labor and that at the same
time has any considerable following
OUTSIDE the ranks of organized
| labor.
| A commercial firm that did no more
to convince strangers of the virtue of
its product would go out of business in
a hurry
The American labor movement has
NEVER been 'sold's to the general
public and the daily press abounds in
misunderstanding and misrepresenta-
tions, not all of which are the fault of
those who own the daily papers of the
nation.
Labor men shout prejudice" and of
course there is prejudice
| Why not?
There is prejudice among plenty of
wage earners who honestly do not
know why unions exist, what they do,
what they seek to do, or what they
are accomplishing in the war effort.
There is only one way in the world
to remove prejudice and that is to
earn the confidence of those who have
| prejudice and to tell them the facts
repeatedly. Nobody ever learns about
facts unless those facts are placed
where he can hear or see them.
That doing such things costs money
is no answer.
Not to do these things costs prog
ress, or costs Il longer period of eX-
ploitation, whichever way anyone
cares to put it.
This isn't scolding. 1t is merely Il
way of discussing Il great problem.
There are plenty of obstacles. There
are plenty of other things to consume
time and money.
But every other task is made easier
by the creation of general understand
! ing
| OF course further development of
| channels of education will be made
easier by better support for the exist
| ing labor press. That, then is the first
| job.
1t ought to be an easy job-but no
job is an easy job until there is Gre
ated Il determination to do the job.
What would happen if every local
union in America named Il standing
committee of able and determined men
and women for this primary job?
The answers it too good to be
true? Who knows?