Newspaper Quits Syndicated Political Cartoons

The Alpena News has taken a stand against divisive opinions.

The people of America, Michigan, and Northeast Michigan represent a diverse collection of viewpoints and ideologies.

We here at The News have strived to reflect that spectrum on our Commentary pages through use of local and syndicated columnists, local and syndicated editorial cartoonists, letters to the editor, and Viewpoints written by The News, other Michigan papers, or our parent company, Ogden Newspapers.

We strike that balance to provide readers access to a range of viewpoints and ideas so they can educate themselves, challenge their own preconceptions, and further civil discourse.

The paper’s attempts at publishing diverse sentiments has failed to bring opposing ideologies into reasonable communication, “the cartoons, especially” have riled the populace.

However, especially over the past two years or so, things haven’t always gone that way. More often, the syndicated content, especially — the cartoons, especially — have caused more division than discourse. Conservatives rile at the liberal cartoons, liberals rile at the conservative cartoons, and neither side wants to talk about it.

The paper has decided to give a larger voice to local opinions.
(Those same local voices who can’t get along because of editorial cartoons?)

We’ll continue to seek out new local voices to replace syndicated ones wherever possible. We’ll still publish syndicated columnists as needed, bringing a mix of conservative and liberal voices.

However, we will no longer publish syndicated political cartoons [emphasis added].

Local cartoonist Eric Paul Roorda will continue to contribute.

[We’ve] recruited Alcona County resident Eric Paul Roorda to draw editorial cartoons for us that address local issues.

Roorda’s cartoons will appear on Saturdays, but we’ll run no other cartoons. Instead, we’ll run a daily list of contact information for local, state, and federal lawmakers, so our readers can share their views with those empowered to make decisions on their behalf.

From a June 1 edition of The Alpena News:

Eric Paul Roorda, Ph.D., is an author, artist, and college professor. More importantly, he is a cartoonist and occasional columnist for The Alpena News. His political cartoons appear on Mondays, and “The Whitetail Family,” a coloring book in serial form, appears on Saturdays on the Outdoors page.

Read why The Alpena News is dropping editorial cartoons.