I watched and waited all last week for any updates regarding the accusations that Urban Tulsa cartoonist David Simpson had blatantly plagiarized a Jeff MacNelly editorial cartoon. No emails were returned, no notices posted on their website or twitter account that they even acknowledged being aware of any “WTF?” from anyone from Poynter on down to passers-by twitterers.
A brand new Urban Tulsa edition is off the press. You can download the issue from their site. A new Simpson cartoon is printed. Page 7.
In the absence of a response or even acknowledgement that there might be a problem, the question perhaps asked is no longer “Is David Simpson a plagiarist?” but “Has David Simpson found someone with equal journalism standards?”
And the second question after looking at the new cartoon… “Is that an original?”
UPDATE: This is about as close as a response as I’ve seen. This Land Press, a site dedicated to “telling the story of Oklahoma”, contacted the Tulsa Weekly editor and publisher and got the following response:
When asked for a comment by This Land Press, Skrzypczak said, ?There?s not really much to say.?
When asked if he had any reaction to the allegations against Simpson, Skrzypczak said, “I think I would probably do that in my own paper if I had any.”
UPDATED: Apparently not. A Daily Cartoonist reader tipped me off that today’s cartoon definitely isn’t an original.
No one’s held accountable for anything anymore. When something like this is pointed out these days it’s usually greeted with a “Hey, whatcha gonna do?” shrug of the shoulders.
It will probably take a letter from a lawyer to the publisher or
corporate parent for them to get a clue.
Are there no other cartoonists in Tulsa? Odd that an altie weekly
would be using a 70’s style cartoonist let alone an accused plagiarist.
“Are there no other cartoonists in Tulsa?”
check out page 8’s ‘Brick & Wood’ At least it’s original.
?Has David Simpson found someone with equal journalism standards??
I dunno about that. They do have quite a few alt-weekly cartoons
How to be Happy on 9
Slowpoke on 49
Red Meat on 50
Axe Cop on 51
Life in Hell on 56
?I think I would probably do that in my own paper if I had any.?
Huh? It is his own paper, right? If he had any … cojones? What? Is he saying he’d plagiarize? Somebody call Yoda and get a more coherent version of this sentence!