A common newspaper tactic is to “tryout” a few comic strips to get the reaction of its readers. That strategy is being used by The Lewiston (Idaho) Tribune to add an editorial cartoonist to their roster:
You’re noticing some changes on these pages.
Rather than the Lewiston Tribune’s traditional political cartoonists — Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Michael Ramirez of Investor’s Business Daily, Lisa Benson and Tom Toles of the Washington Post as well as David Horsey of the Seattle Times — this Sunday’s Opinion section highlights four conservatives:
- Antonio “A.F.” Branco — A resident of northwest Washington state, Branco is a former member of the U.S. Army Military Police Corps., and musician. Slaying “the dragons of leftist lunacy” is what he relishes.
- Al Goodwyn — Educated in physics, Goodwyn has been cartooning since 1989. He launched his newspaper career with the Aiken (S.C.) Standard, and his following has expanded to the Washington Post, the Washington Times and the Washington Examiner. “My cartoons lean right, but I frequently do cartoons that poke at all sides.”
- Gary Varvel — Between 1994 and 2019, Varvel served as editorial cartoonist at The Indianapolis News. He’s been involved in filmmaking, serving as cowriter and producer of “The Board” in 2009 and “The War Within” in 2014.
- Chip Bok — Cartoonist for the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal and the Tampa Bay Times. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1997, Bok illustrated Dave Barry’s column for the Miami Herald from 1982-84.
This is a matter of addition, not subtraction. They are not replacing Luckovich, Ramirez, Benson, Horsey and Toles. But one of these four will join them as a regular Tribune contributor. Which one depends on the feedback we get from our readers during a try-out period these next two or three weeks.
I would suggest Branco to get some a conservative view of local(ish) issues to pair against Horsey, but I think A.F. only does national cartoons.
The Tribune explains that this is the result of the excitement caused by a Mike Luckovich cartoon last month (scroll down to the update)
There’s no mystery behind this. Amid the fallout concerning Luckovich’s Aug. 26 panel, Lewiston Tribune Editor and Publisher Nathan Alford sounded out the community. What he found was a call for an inclusive page that looks more like the people who read it.
“Our mission and obligation on the Opinion page has traditionally been to share a wide range of views. It’s not to be right, either. It’s to foster critical thinking on the most significant issues of the day.”
The Tribune will also experiment with a new idea which may being copyright and intellectual property problems to the newspaper:
We’ll experiment with a new feature: Call it “Monday Meme.” This option depends on your involvement, but space will be made available for reader submissions. Send memes to the Lewiston Tribune via Facebook Messenger or by email to letters@lmtribune.com.
How do they confirm it is original material?
Voting as of this posting:
