“I was appalled. I was very disappointed to see that our local
paper put something like that in there,” Sheriff Spangler said.
above: the offending Mike Thompson cartoon.
Sheriff Spangler comments reflect those mentioned in a formal letter that the sheriff’s office released in which he called the cartoon “wildly inappropriate.”
The Letter to the Editor is on the Knox County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page …
with responses being four-square behind the Sheriff’s reaction.
In other Letters to the Editors:
Shame on you! The Ed Wefler(sic) left-leaning cartoon that
the newspaper published on Sunday, Sept. 29 was obscene!
above: the obscene Ed Wexler cartoon
Everyone knows what hits the fan and President Trump is not that. You would have never published anything like that when Obama was president. If my husband did not enjoy reading the paper every morning, I would cancel our subscription.
above: an inappropriate Rick McKee cartoon
The cartoon is whimsical and inappropriate. The lives of divorced spouses of President Trump cannot compare to the murder and displacement of a people who served as allies on behalf of USA against Isis. Trump’s unilateral and precipitous decision resulted in murder and betrayal and cannot be compared to his divorced wives; who continue to live in lives of luxury.
Which is why when we discuss the demise of the print journalism, newspapers, editorial cartoons, comic strips, etc., we need to reserve plenty of blame for the readers. Not only do too many readers demand to be entertained at the expense of journalism, too many further demand that the newspaper simply reflect back to them what they already believe to be true. Too many readers prefer the echo chamber of their personally curated social media feeds to any kind of cartoon satire. I know I’m not saying anything new, but it helps me to remember the wider scope of the problem when discussing any potential future for print journalism, including editorial cartoons and comic strips in general.