The Wilmington morning star., 1945-12-14
Fair Enough
Bv WESTBRO1K PEGLER

NJ o,1r carelessness and, l believe YOU could
saw. our gullibiity in publishing certain types
of reading matter which have only a doubtful
t value, if any, asFnews In the great, free
capitalistic American press, we have to bear
down on the Monday morning release. For
reasons which good managing editor or city
editor or any good press-agent could explain
better thu n could, Monday mornings papers
and to a lesser extent, the afternoons, are
the planting ground for propaganda and other
motivated announcements, official statements
and the like.
I understand that there is a superstition
i that not much hot news occurs on Sundays,
Pearl Harbor being an exception and l do
recall that my elders in New York journalism
used to explain that dog-story, meaning a
planted publicity story was Monday morn
ing thing originated in the old Hers Id by
James Gordon Bennett, who liked to see a
piece about dog on Monday. In time, the
Broadway press-agents were pelting the desk
with dog-stories and so, for years, that was
the tradename for a publicity feature, { S per-
haps it still is in some circles of our stately
profession.
Wasn't it on a Sunday that man who
registered as Thomas r. Zann had an
enormous crs tie delivered to his suite in
big Broadway hotel which, when the. false
sides were let down, proved to contain "a
veritable lion in a cage? Mr.. Zann turned
out to be Harry Reichenbach, press-agent
with great imagination whose assumed M me
suggested the word Tarzan, moving picture
which was about to be revealed. Another
which, according to my impression, broke on
a Sunday was patriotic project to burnish
the Statue of Liberty with something CO lied
beads of gold, which We were to learn, was
patented pot-polish.
The Ant-Saloon League, in prohibition days.
chose Sunday afternoon to release its DEGREES
and nowadays our weakness is known to
numberless committees for or against this or
that councils, institutes, leagues and feder-
ations
Most OF these organizations are only letter.
head groups, with varied rosters of the same
old busy-body names stretching down the left
side, starting with the President, who may
be president, secretary OR member OF E, hum
dred SUCH They include lawyers who feel
that they have a social mission as well as a
need OF practice, restless women with time
on their hands and itch for publicity and
controversy and college professors, actors and
sculptors, always emotional and moody.
A committee, institute council may have
no more integrity than a puff Of smoke. Half
a dozen men and women who want to pro-
mote some project or ism get together, per-
haps only by phone, agree on a name, pledge
$25 or $50 apiece for stationery and mimeo-
graphing and the next Sunds handout lands
on the city desk under a name that looks
If luck is running the right way.
It makes print on Monday. Big business firms
lave been in on the play, too, and thing
called an institute for certain Understanding
Kind OF research, which IVES just letter.
lead. created nice crop of scientific clip
pings about an impending change in the body :
ines of famous make of automobile.
Practically all members of Congress realize
hat Monday morning is the most promising
ime for proposals and statements OF their
position various matters and, especially
during the Roosevelt presidency, certain bu-
including some cabinet officers,
had their most original ideas on Sunday which
we're duly communicated and often made the
% pers, presumably in larger measure than
hey would have on other days. 1t has been
observed, too, that Sunday is a sucker day
or the radio, some of our highly respected I
having pet broadcasters who will
describe them as 'forceful' or ;blunt' or =
;quare-shooting'' in return for little bits OF
but not necessarily important or
lewsy information.
This is peculis rity Of ours that Russian {
rites of the American press, studying our S
,apers through TRANSACTIONS and at a great t
distance, could not be expected to discern. I
However, their propagandists here, including
is they do many renegade Americans of long S
experience in the areas of our journs Esm,
hould have pointed it out to them.
Fiorello LaGuardia, on the other hand, had
10 excuse for overlooking it in his attempt
o rate us below the radio as an avenue of
Information because his own present repu-
alton and his consequent es rning power as
comedian of the air are the result of his
wn exploitation Of our weakness in his long
cries Of Sunday afternoon antics.
The extent to which he is a creature of
ublicity was indicated Tuesday, a regular
ews day. when he got his picture in print
wo columns wide, biting into an apple. That
lst wasn't news by any standard. Perhaps d
.aGuardia was afraid that if he did point Il
ut our susceptibility to the dog story we n
7ould take the hint and give him the silent o
reatment which would be very be d for him,
ecause radio personally who can't keep n
is name in print can't survive on radio, f.
ither. 9
That is why I think we have been chumps 4
0 build up the Eddie Cantors, the Fred Al =
ems and the Charlie McCarthys, not that they h
rent nice people but merely that not one r.
yord in E, thousand that we print about them Ii
news. Meanwhile they work for our business :.
ival, the radio, which takes advertising dol -
hrs most of which otherwise would 60 to US.
So, in dag aosing our weaknesses the Rus
ians and LaGuardia might have made
ather convincing charge that in some per. y
istent respects we are feeble-minded, too. -
QUOTATIONS { !, {