Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1964)

WE SQUEEZED THE AIR OUT AND LEFT NOTHING BUT AIR IN All broadcast ... all buying ... all important. That's SPONSOR, designed as —and still— a buyer's book. Not pedantic, mind you. Not gossipy. We present the top of broadcast news, quickly; the meaning of the news, deeply; the trend of the news, perceptively; the future of the news, daringly. Do we ever annoy? Offend? Disrupt? Yes. We also enrich the buying mix in the back of the buyer's mind— with the stuff that helps make the difference between "ordering" and "buying." That's why the buyer reads SPONSOR, the broadcast idea weekly with the fat trimmed away. 555 Fifth Avenue, New York 17, Telephone: 212 MUrrayhill 7-8080. Publisher's How the broadcaster can serve more I like to travel . Or to put it more accurately, I like to visit stations. Perhaps the most rewarding aspects of my station visits are the countless examples of outstanding public service that come to my attention. They range from charity drives to establishment of grass roots opera to finding lost children to tackling tough community problems to sponsoring symphony orchestras to working around the clock to aid disaster victims to a thousand and one other services. Everybody likes to feel that he justifies his existence by doing more than drawing a weekly pay check and being kind to his family. Broadcasters have a real opportunity to contribute to the common-good. I know many who make the most of it. Back in 1961 it was my privilege to work with Charlie Crutchfield, head of the Jefferson Standard Stations, in disseminating a document called "A Young Communist Writes ..." I remember the thrill I got in printing this dramatic warning of the dangers of communistic zeal. People from everywhere wrote for copies and got that good warm glow of satisfaction. I was in Charlotte the other day and Charlie had another one. He gave me a four page brochure and asked me to read it on the plane home. It turned out to be the text of a talk delivered over WBTV Charlotte, by way of KVOO-TV Tulsa. A newspaper man, Editor Jenkin Lloyd Jones of the Tulsa Tribune, lets loose with some 4000 words, unencumbered by musical background, scenery, props or supplemental voices. Charlie gave him prime time — 8 p.m. Wednesday. He was right. As a service Jones' remarks, titled "Who is tampering with the soul of America?" rate with the best ever delivered on the air. He talks on the lowering standards of morality in America. He expounds with great expressiveness and clarity and from the depths of his grave concern. His words ring a danger toll that reverberates long after one has digested the thoughts. I want to bring them to your attention not only because I, like so many others, am deeply disturbed by the increasing evidences of juvenile delinquency, crime, smutty books, naughty movies and a general attitude of permissiveness in every walk of life, but because I think that our industry can do something about it. Despite its critics, television and radio have proven themselves keenly aware of a standard of decency and morality. The excesses and decadence tearing at our social structures and moral fibre have not found lodging via the air waves. Even a Peyton Place on the air is that in name only. The NAB Codes have meaning and are among the most important instruments in any industry. Broadcasters as well as advertising men generally can enlist to do more . We have the power to reverse this devastating trend. As step number one I recommend that you read Jenkin Jones' talk. I am sure Charlie Crutchfield has extra copies. fT-TA-i^ 8 SPONSOR