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Clay Bennet interview: “Editorial Cartoons Good for Journalism”
There is a really good interview with Clay Bennett, President of the AAEC, on PJnet. Bennett talks about the recent lay-offs and buy-outs, the journalistic standards of editorial cartoons, blogs vs. editorial cartoons, and his advice for anyone wanting to be an editorial cartoonist.
Certainly the New York Times is a great paper. And it hasn’t had its own editorial cartoonist since the early 1950’s. But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be a better paper if it had one. The problem is the New York Times doesn’t want to give a platform that powerful to one person. And therein lies the rub.
Newspapers all over this country realize that the editorial cartoon is the most powerful element on an editorial page. And to have one on staff means you’re committed to running his or her cartoons five or six days a week. Good or bad, right or wrong, that space is devoted to one particular cartoonist. When they leave that position open, and run a smorgasbord of cartoons, they get to pick and choose. They can choose what positions they like, they can choose which cartoons they like, and they can control the debate.
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