The Wilmington morning star., 1946-07-23
Fair Enough
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER

SNAJ3 ~ LAS AS"
organization called the American Veterans
Committee, or AVG, Inc, seems to love public
lty because 1t is always turning the crank
and grinding out press releases" and, in its
official bullentin about its recent first annual
convention in Des Moires, it boosted about
its press notices like an old time dog-act hang.
ing around outside the palace.
1 thought a lot Of this coverage was slanted
in favor of the AVG, lac. by writers who hold
that the program of the political action bunch
is gospel and that all doubters are dirty here
tics and doubt that it will be entirely helpful
to the ave. because it will irritate such in
fidels, amounting, in all, to a mighty number.
The term 'release," meaning a handout
from a press-agent. is really a misnomer and
a distortion because in tie original sense it
meant a speech by an important person or a
decision by a court or bureau such as the In
t~erstate Commerce Commission which was
given 10 the press associations and paper in
advance under seal of confidence for a stimuli.
taneous "release' by the clock or by flash.
Way hack, someone got up the ingenious
idea of turning out the text Of speeches by
the President, maybe Mr.. Taft or the first
Roosevelt, whicn thus could be wired ahead
in slack hours or even mailed all over the
country under a warning line, ''hold for re
lease" This relieved congestion, diminished
the chances of errors due to haste. some
times saved money in lolls and assured wider
circulation for the pearls Of wisdom Of an
eminent statesman.
So, in the case Of an Grafton, when the great
man started sounding off, the reporter on the
assignment had only to hear him horn his
'A". remark to the operator, flash, release
speech and then amuse himself as he pleased
which, contrary to a low superstition, doesn't
mean that he always curle6 up on the back OF
his neck in a police Serseant's chair with a
slab of rebbleford and a dirtyword, butchers
paper intellectual magazine to stimulate his
RESPONSIVENESS.
Sometimes a fellow would listen to the
speech, and to the improvement of his mind,
too, because we have had some better than
fair scholars and statesmen in our public life,
or he might sit doWn to one OF those old
fashioned, sight-unseen Oliver r~ock-crusherS,
which wore a ribbon as wide as a hall runner
and had arms like the walking cranes Of a
Hudson side-wheeler, and bat out the premoni-
tory versions Of such excellent Ameri-
can literature as the Judge Priest stories of
Irwin Cobb or Wallace Twins Letters Of the
Japanese Schoolboy."
That is what release meant originally and
to violate or jump a release was a very serious
breach of ethics and still is, for that matter,
in the case Of bona fide advance copy, but
not, of course, in the case of an ordinary
puDlC1Iy HdQQOuL, SnSaV6S OIL WHICH are DUMP
ed on the desk every day and hardly any of
which is read, much less published. A reporter
covering a speech that is being held for re-
lease is perfectly safe in leaving the job after
hearing the speaker thu ough the first para
graph SO times cut of a hundred but may fall
on his face the hundredth time when the fel-
low gets his second Wind or loses his temper
and starts dealing fresh material of the end
of his tongue or the top of his head. OF course
if he is on the air. the radio quotes him literal.
ly and without special effort but the press has
to watch for digessiols and stick them into
the text, sometimes noting that the insert maj.
ter was rot in the original version.
Nowadays a batch of nail may bring are.
Lease from some tub-thumper consisting O.
some banal joke attributed to a night club
comedian or the political views Of some sWol-
len ignoramus acting in a movie and reams OF
mimeograph from political organizations pro-
noting everything from cleo to unrestricted
immigration to Palestine.
Strangely, although radio Is mighty uppity
about its importance as a medium for reach
ing the public, radio still grabs all the space
it can in print and my oWr beloved profession,
dopes that we are, having warmed this viper
at our bosom, continue 10 plug our hated rival
not only with occasional stories but with regu-
lar departments under standing heads and in
anchored positions which consist largely OF
free advertising without a trace OF news value.
We have also been showed up with straight
propaganda and publicity copy or releases
from a lot Of the government bureaus since
the new deal began, most Of all by the Treas
ury in the interest Of the Breton Woods thing
and by the OPA, but in the big volume also
by the Department of Justice from time to
time. And. while it can't be said that the
Supreme Court actually distributed handouts,
some of the learned brethren haven't hesitated
to slip Information to selected individuals that
should have been secrets of the circle, as
Justice Jackson noted in bending back the
ears of Justice Black. Some people say the
Treasury and OPA. violated the law in using
public money to promote pet isms of The bosses
of these bureaus among the people and to in.
stigate pressure against Congress but I guess
that even so, it would be silly to expect the
Department of Justice to indict anyone for
that.
I think the AVC's publicity department is
more efficient than the mimeograph service
of any Of the other veterans grouos, old or
new, in the sense that its copy is more provoc-
alive and neWsy but not all of it's handouts
will promote its ambition to round UP the
greatest number of veterans. It has a very
definite political character Of a leftish angle
and l assume that those veterans who are
shopping around for an organization to Join
will discriminate and refuse to have any truck
with an outfit that promotes measures which
they oppose.
One veteran may be strong for uremploy.
mont nav for uafororc arI y,afar,nr %~1