Continuing the coverage of the New York Times cartoon ban.
By now, even many who don’t normally pay attention to inside-journalism stories, have taken notice of the recent decision by The New York Times to cut all editorial cartoons from their international edition. In recent weeks, friends and strangers have messaged, and have even stopped me at coffee shops in Omaha, the city where I draw cartoons for The Omaha World-Herald, to express their frustration at the news.
The fact that readers, even in the Midwest, are vexed about what’s going into the pages of an international newspaper is somehow heartening. But angst, alone, won’t bring back cartoons to countless readers abroad.
Cartoonist Jeff Koterba on the disheartening Times decision.
It’s a unique form of art and commentary. It’s often funny, but often not, despite being identified as a “cartoon.”
For all those years when we were fortunate enough to have Wicks at The Signal, as a small-town community newspaper, a full-time cartoonist was a luxury.
It shouldn’t be a luxury for the New York Times. It should be a staple, and it’s a sad commentary that the newspaper that gets millions of eyeballs on the internet — and still buys more barrels of ink than just about anyone — is running scared.
Editor Tim Whyte is disappointed with the N. Y. Times.
Many more at Patrick Chappatte’s New York Times page.
