Sponsor (Jan-June 1953)

WHO ACCLAIMED NATION'S BEST RADIO NEWS OPERATION, FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR BY NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF RADIO NEWS DIRECTORS At recent convention of National Association of Radio News Directors, Baskett Mosse, chairman of committee judges, said: "The Medill School of Journalism of Northwestern University is happy to announce tonight that radio station WHO, Des Moines, Iowa, was selected as the outstanding radio news operation in the United States for 1952". In presenting the award Mosse said: "This is the first time in the history of the National Association of Radio News Directors that the awards committee has selected a radio station as the outstanding radio news operation in the country for the second consecutive year. I think this is an unusual honor and I know that you are proud of it and we are really proud to give it to you. Not to take anything away from the other entries in this contest, but I would like to say that your particular entry won this award by unanimous vote. Every judge on our awards committee voted for WHO as the outstanding radio news operation — 1952". BEST EQUIPMENT, VETERAN STAFF. BIG BUDGET The WHO News Bureau has an impressive physical plant: six leased-wire machines; a portable battery-operated tape recorder; a telephone recorder; three shortwave monitors for state and city police and fire department broadcasts; a number of subscription services; and a library which includes several specialized news encyclopedias. The six leased-wire machines include two Associated Press, two United Press and two International News Service machines. WHO's leased-wire service exceeds the facilities used by many of the country's leading daily newspapers; and is unsurpassed by any radio station in this section of the country. Only two of the six machines are "radio" wires — the other four bring in detailed stories known as "press" wire service. Press wire service gives lengthy accounts and the three news services bring in three different versions of the big stories around the world. This necessitates constant boiling down, rewriting and sifting of details, playing up news of local interest — all tailored to fit a split-second time period. NINE VETERAN REPORTERS EDIT AND BROADCAST NEWS Proud as we are of this award, we are more proud of the people on our staff who helped us win it. The WHO News Bureau is headed by veteran Jack Shelley, and includes eight other full-time men and a secretary. Eight of the men are collegetrained reporters, rewriters and broadcasters, all of whom are heard regularly on the air. The ninth man is a specialist in political reporting. The ten people on the staff represent a total of 100 years' experience in news work. Five of the News Bureau staff have been with WHO ten or more years. In addition to the regular full-time staff, the WHO News Bureau maintains a staff of 70 correspondents — or part-time reporters — throughout Iowa and in Southern Minnesota and Northern Missouri, heavy WHO listening areas. TELEPHONE USED EXTENSIVELY The WHO News Bureau uses the local and long-distance telephone extensively to supplement and verify the regular news services' coverage. Staff members check directly with peace officers and hospitals each morning to get accident reports and accident victims' conditions which may have changed since the late night news reports. In many instances, the leased-wire services do not clear this type of information until too late for a 7:30 a.m. — or even an 8:45 a.m. — newscast. Telephone checks also minimize the possibility of loss of news when events take place in remote areas, distant from a news service reporter. STAFF WORKS TWO SHIFTS The WHO News Bureau maintains a morning and a night shift. There is a certain amount of specialization within each shift in that one man may be assigned Washington and foreign news, another Iowa news, and a third miscellaneous humaninterest stories. Whatever the assignment, the reporter stays on it for an indefinite period, building up a background for that specific job, and becoming a specialized reporter on that shift. Each shift writes its news copy especially for the men who will be airing it. $100,000 ANNUAL BUDGET To operate its award-winning News Bureau and to provide Iowa-Plus listeners with unexcelled news coverage, WHO spends more than $100,000 annually. This figure is believed to be one of the highest figures in the Nation. PUBLIC SERVICE EXTRAS In addition to its regular news services, the WHO News Bureau provides its listeners with a variety of public-service extras. These include free announcements regarding public and private meetings during periods of extreme weather conditions, upto-the-minute reports on road and weather conditions and emergency calls on newscasts to locate families or members of families who are traveling or are visiting away from home, etc. The News Bureau has also developed a system whereby a copy of each newscast mentioning an Iowa serviceman is sent to the next of kin. This service has required the cooperation of local postmasters in many cases because of the lack of a street address or the name of the next of kin. Management at WHO considers the public service aspect . . . the many extra "little things" that WHO does for its listening public ... to be the difference between a routine news operation and one that is contributing to the welfare of the community. This — then — is the difference between a good news operation and the "Best Radio News Operation in the United States". BETTER NEWS — BETTER AUDIENCES The leadership of WHO's News Service is only one of many reasons why WHO is Iowa's greatest advertising values. The 1952 Iowa Radio Audience Survey, accepted by leading advertisers and agencies as a completely authoritative analysis of listening habits in this state, shows that WHO is by far the "most-listened-to" station in Iowa. Write for your copy, or ask Free & Peters. + WHO for Iowa Plus! + DES MOINES . . . 50,000 WATTS Col. B. J. Palmer, President P. A. Loyet, Resident Manager FREE & PETERS, INC. National Representatives 26 JANUARY 1953 21