News But Not Heard

In St. Louis last week, 20,000 readers of the morning Globe-Democrat were startled to find oddly doctored copies of the paper in their mail. Columns of blushing red duotone ran over news stories, pictures and ads, cutting some pages into bright mosaics, blanketing others in unbroken chromatic glory. In a prideful red banner across the top of Page One, the Globe deciphered the code: ALL THAT'S RED WASN'T ON THE AIR!

For all its gimmicky hyperbole, the stunt was effective proof that news which rates newspaper space includes plenty that never gets on the air. Mailed out to advertisers, clergymen, doctors, lawyers, barbers and beauticians with a letter from Publisher Richard Amberg, the colored copy of the Globe left readers to decide how well informed they could hope to be by relying on radio and television.

For its one-day demonstration of comparative news coverage, the Globe chose June i. It monitored radio and television broadcasts from 5 p.m. until 1 a.m. (roughly the hours in which the day's Globe was put together), then compared the middle-weight Globe (30 pages) with the broadcasters' total coverage. The story the Globe chose for prime play (Page One, column 8) covered a stock-market rally; on the air the story got near-equal play.

But deeper into the paper, the red mounted: classified ads, stock prices, vital statistics and public notices were all red, along with the funnies, the editorials, feature columns, crossword puzzle, horoscope, advice to the lovelorn and, of course, radio and television listings.

It was simple news coverage that showed the brightest red and was the best excuse for the Globe's campaign. Says the Globe's public-relations man, George Carson, "It's aimed strictly at radio and television. We want to sell the newspaper industry. We want to help all newspapers, even the Post-Dispatch.'' No one at the Globe minded, though, that the campaign struck a glancing blow at the P-D's radio and television affiliates, KSD and KSD-TV.

The Globe (circ. 322,543) has long jousted with its broadcasting competitors, boasting that its editorial staff of 121 includes more newsmen than all of Missouri's radio and television stations to gether employ. But in its excitement over the new campaign's success, the Globe showed that it had not yet lost all faith in the air. Eager to tell St. Louis of the great things in store for newspaper readers, the Globe signed up for 266 radio and TV spots to shout its happy news.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.