OCR Text |
Show ' JMIMIW. Wl IJHMiilli llll II 1 1 IH II WIUIMH Rediscovers America Under New Sponsors Co-Operative Backing of Programs Affords Wider National Contacts; Brings Radio Close to Local Communities. By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator. We are all proud of the fact tha radio has brought the world righ Into the listener's home. We can b equally proud of the fact that tin co-operative sponsorship systenr has brought thousands of America! communities into the broedcaster'i heart and mind. The co-operativ sponsorship system exemplifies th good, democratic principles of de centralization. I think it's a great invention. 1 U Nt Service, 1616 Eye Street, N. W. Washington, D. .0. In these days when there is so 1 much talk about co-operatives, I would like to take this opportunity to say something about co-operative sponsorship of radio. It Is a different differ-ent kind of co-op, of course, but it hag done a lot for broadcasting. It simply means that instead of having hav-ing one big company sponsor a program over a whole network, a local concern In each town "hires" us. That is why I say the name of Chosen by Station WNAX, Yankton, Yank-ton, S. D., as "typical mid-west farmers," Mr. and Mrs. John Oeser won a trip to Washington, a new tractor and money for a new wardrobe. ward-robe. Immediately after being received re-ceived by the President, they were interviewed on our program. They were chosen by WNAX because, be-cause, while running up a remarkable remark-able production record on their farm in Westside, Iowa, they also played a leading part in the war activities of the community. Mr. Oeser is 58 years old and is still cultivating the land his father pioneered. He and Mrs. Oeser have eight children the one of military age is a marine two daughters are my boss is legion. I There are many advantages in ; this plan from a purely material standpoint. But to me, the greatest, from the broadcaster's point of view is the fact that co-op sponsorship provides a tremendous psychological psychologi-cal tonic. It gives me what I call an e-pluribus-unum boost, because j I have a feeling that a lot of people peo-ple have elected me to my Job instead of one man hiring me. I feel that I have become a citizen In a sort of new-found economic democracy. Now from the listener's standpoint: stand-point: When a program is sponsored locally, the townsfolk are bound to look on it with a lot more intimacy. v.v. w;..,.. . ...v.-." , v. i Baukhage (center) interviews the Oesers in Washington, U. C. , The people of X-ville, listening to me as they have for the last three years, feel, I am sure, that they know me better because they know my sponsor, Joe Doe a lot of them personally, a lot more because they i have almost daily personal contact j with the clerks in his big department depart-ment store. And that goes for the flour mill, the bank, the bakery, the dairy, the hotel, the electric power company, the finance company, the : flour and feed store, and what have I you (and what haven't you in the co-op dish?). Like writing for a weekly newspaper, news-paper, there is a hometown intimacy about this arrangement. This inti- : macy, vicarious though it may be, j goes a long way toward breaking down the barrier of invisibility between be-tween the unseen broadcaster and his audience. Highly important too, is the total goodwill engendered by the co-operative sponsorship system. It means 1 a lot to the sponsor to have the listener lis-tener realize that a hometown : supported institution is paying for : the program he listens to. Before I accept a sponsor I have to know something about him. When we get together I have a chance to learn a lot more about him and he about me. Thus, my 130 bosses have helped me, In a sense, to re-discover America, and it doesn't do a bit of graduate nurses. Since the eldest boy joined the marines, Mr. Oeser has been doing all the work on his 160-acre farm with the help of his wife and the 10 and 14-year-olds. They have a lot of livestock and raise enough grain on their farm to feed the cattle. Mr. and Mrs. Oeser were widely entertained while in Washington and enjoyed every minute of it. However, How-ever, Mrs. Oeser was shocked at the prices of food and didn't "see how a family the size of hers could possibly afford to live in a city." While congress recently rewrote the tax law to fit peacetime government govern-ment expenditures and the people's earnings they had in their possession posses-sion the suggestion for a new type of tax program. I say "new type" because it is sponsored by small businesses employing approximately approximate-ly 6,500,000 workers. The sponsors are convinced that their comprehensive program will do a number of worthy things in addition ad-dition to speeding reconversion and giving tax relief to individuals and business. They say it will also provide pro-vide a favorable tax climate for small business, encourage venture capital, provide high employment at well-paid Jobs, stimulate consumption, consump-tion, increase the national income, balance thp hnHoot o ki.k I harm to those of us who spend so i much time on Pennsylvania avenue to have a daily reminder of Main street which is the real America. So much for direct benefits to station sta-tion - sponsor - listener - broadcaster. But there is something which is even more important to radio as a whole. I believe the co-op system will go a long way toward dissolving dissolv-ing an unfounded suspicion held by some of the general public: namely name-ly that a commentator reflects his sponsor's opinions. Personally, I have never known such a case, but the myth is widespread. Well, it is obvious that even 30 sponsors couldn't agree to disagree with their commentator on any one thing and when the number passes the hundred mark, a neutralizing effect results which produces a cross-section view that could reflect only an average of American tolerances. - o li'gn ciupiuy- ment levels, reduce federal expen-1 dirures and retire the national debt. Aside from immediate reductions for individuals and corporations, the long-range program calls for the following: fol-lowing: For the individual, an initial ini-tial tax of 16 per cent and reduction of surtaxes, the rates on long-term capital gains, estate and gift taxes. Existing exemptions and credits would be retained, deductions of capital losses would be allowed on the same basis as capital gains are taxed, double taxation of dividends divi-dends would be alleviated. The state chambers of commerce would continue con-tinue the principle of the withhold-1 ing tax while at the same time try- j ing to Improve it. In the long term picture for business, busi-ness, the group would have corporation corpora-tion taxes reduced and the continuation continu-ation of a favorable tax climate for small business. |