Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1946)

ran tie-ins with our regular newspaper advertising, inviting rural listeners to take advantage of this new service. Special stationery was printed for the Farm News Reporter, with time-and-station data and the name of the program included on the letterhead. Every card or request from listeners is answered personally by the Farm News Reporter. VV^e also send out a weekly column of selected farm news items to all the country newspapers in the area. No commercial tie-in is used on these news bulletins, but the masthead carried a picture of our Reporter, the time of the program, and the station. We have microphone banners to use on all remote pick-ups. We also plan to use placards in our Spokane banks and all the branches. From time to time w^e intend to use envelope stuff ers with our monthly statements. Listener response has been more than gratifying. More and more of our cards and letters include such statements as, "I'm a newcomer to this area, and your Farm News Reporter is giving me real help in becoming established on my little farm." It is also gratifying to get such comments as: "Thank you so much for mentioning our Grange meeting. It was very successful. We have always done our banking at a Spokane and Eastern Branch and will certainly continue to do so." COVERING THE FIELD The program is written and presented by Ken Hutcheson, KG A farm news director, in a simple, genuine style. He looks over technical and semi-technical bulletins from the extension service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other sources. All the information is translated into everyday, colloquiallized American. Farm listeners are urged to write in for free bulletins. Hutcheson also contacts farmers for the story of their operations, attends many of their meetings, and interviews some of the well known farm authorities in the studio. When the right type of portable recorder or transcribing equipment is available, we plan to interview more farmers at the scene of their operations. The highiighi o( ihc agri(iihinal year in this area is the Spokane junior Livestock Show, held each May lor members of 4-H Clubs and the Future Farmers. This year's show was by far the biggest of its tyj)e e\er held in the United States. Almost 2, ()()() animals were exhibited, and approximately 1,200 boys and girls from VVashington, Idaho and Montana took part. More than a quarter of a million dollars changed hands at the auction sale which was attended by buyers from all over the West and Alaska. During the week of this event, oinFarm News was broadcast directly from the stockyards show ring and was made up of news highlights, and interviews with boys and girls and show officials. Ihis annual show has probabh done more than any other single thing to j)romote a sounder, more profitable livestock industry in the Inland Empire. The bank further supported it this year by purchasing two prize steers to provide meat for our annual employees' picnic. Of course, this tied-in beautifully with our Farm News. We feel that it would definitely detract from the purpose of this radio program and from the stature of our banking business to use pill or soap-type commercials; or to use too many of them. The only time the bank's name is mentioned on this program is in the opening and closing, and in one 40 to 50-second commercial toward the middle of the show. This commercial, written by Hutcheson to fit the style of the program, is of an institutional nature which plays up the service angle. The theme is that as agriculture prospers, so prospers our society. Another objective of our Far?n News is to suggest in a subtle way that since the taxpayers support the extension service and the experts of the agricultural colleges, the taxpayers should use their knowledge and facilities to the fullest extent. These so-called experts are not living in a rarified world of their own; rather, they are working with and for farmers. If this objective is accomplished in even a small way, it should result in a healthier farm industry and better living for all of us. SEPTEMBER, 1946 • 303 •