Bob's Corner
Sometimes ye olde editor feels like the main man in the 1955 sci fi humor novel, Martians Go Home, by Fredric Brown. At one point the principal character, “Luke Devereaux,” decides to write his magnum opus after consuming some substance or other, I think, that alters his perceptions. I don’t use such material, unless you count decaffeinated coffee or low-fat microwave popcorn.
Anyway, our boy Luke, bedeviled along with the rest of the world population by the arrival of a billion little green, sarcastic and mischievous men from Mars, sits for an extraordinary period of time at his typewriter, pounding the keys. After this creative marathon, he’s about ready to collapse. He looks at the stacked pages he’s typed and eagerly picks up the bundle to review his work. Although this is not verbatim, the “work” begins with a fairly coherent paragraph about a gunslinger in the Old West. The reader is told that the hero fires his six-gun.
And on the rest of that page, and on all the 500 or so pages after, the following word is repeated without change: “Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang” ad infinitum. Reason I feel like that writer? Because we all here at the News work the so-called long hours each week, pounding the word processor keys. We don’t write “bang, bang, bang” to the brink of insanity, but sometimes it feels as though that’s where we’re headed.
Our goal is -- always has been and always will be -- to produce the best newspaper that we can for the Illinois Valley community. We take some flak occasionally; we even field some compliments here and there. You would think that after working in this sort of endeavor for more than 40 years I’d realize that no one can please everyone all the time.
One area that’s a constant battle is in the realm of advertising. We’re still working to get out the word that consistency with us is a key word. One or two ads here and there simply is not the best approach. Look at the giants including Sears, Chevron, Hershey’s and a multitude of others: They spend millions each year to keep their names and products in our faces. Not mention our hearts and minds.
During the 21 years that we’ve operated the News, we’ve seen numerous efforts to do what we do each week come and go. Well, it’s said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Also in years past we’ve seen some outfits that have taken lots of dollars from valley merchants for ads: ads that sometimes were never run and for which there was no refund.
So, as we like to say, we’re an equal opportunity advertising medium. You say that advertising here doesn’t work? Here’s my standing offer: I will give any business a free ad of any size with full color. The only caveat is that I get to choose what product or service is offered, and how much it will cost.
Then tell me that advertising here doesn’t work.
Bang, bang, bang ...
