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Editorial cartooning

“We will no longer be publishing political cartoons”

1 minute 27 comments

The Latrobe (PA) Bulletin has decided they can no longer publish opinion pieces – oops, make that political cartoons – “because we strive to better the community, not divide it.”

Cartoonist Lee Judge‘s commentary was the source of controversy in a red part of the purple state.

From Latrobe Bulletin publisher Dave Cuddihy:

We apologize today for letting such an offensive political cartoon slip through our editorial process and into our Editorial page of Volume 123 – Issue No. 20, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025.

While political cartoons have run in newspapers, including the Latrobe Bulletin, for many years; this is a final example of how we feel they have run their course.

As Americans we respect rights and views on all sides, however, we assure you, as your community newspaper this image does not reflect our viewpoint…

We will no longer be publishing political cartoons because we strive to better the community, not divide it.

Dave Cuddihy, publisher

The Bulletin’s Facebook page has over 200 comments within 24 hours of posting the announcement.

Hat tip

Randy Bish (Area Republican Rep. Leslie Baum Rossi got different reactions on her Facebook.)

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Comments 27

  1. THAT’S offensive? For crying out loud, you could go back in time four years and Gary Varvel probably drew the exact same thing. If the cartoon is guilty of anything, it’s being hackneyed.

    1. Or, you know, drive by Justice Alito’s house.

  3. My fear is that this is going to catch on. It’s already caught on with a lot of editors NOT to run any cartoons that contain an opinion and I’ve also had editors and publishers tell me directly that they can’t run anything pro or con on Donald Trump.
    And yeah, there are supposed political cartoonists who draw a lot of cartoons without any opinions.

    1. So time for cartoons on the remaining Turd Reich members. Sharpen the pencils and aim for the facts in humorous manner. I love laughing at the new admin. We don’t have to focus on gramps, aim for the nazis, drunkards, sex abusers, financial scams, bus failures, nimal issues, drug abuse/use, new black hat dress uniform, that’s enough to make people laugh for months.

      1. “A political cartoonist is a newspaper’s prizefighter. His space is his ring. He is out there alone with his adversaries – poverty, injustice, stupidity, and his most unforgiving opponent, humorlessness. As Guernsey often said, the cartoon is a medium of attack. Many newspapers will not have cartoonists; they can be too much trouble. …
        “Many readers do not like to see authority figures poked fun of. But elected and institutional leaders must be held to account for the policies they represent.
        “Some see the cartoonist as an anarchist.”
        Richard Cattani, 1990
        https://www.csmonitor.com/1990/0628/The-Cartoonist-as-Champion

  4. I sure hope this is sarcasm.

  5. “For every person you don’t offend, you bore two.” I used to quip to my fellow newsroomers when a boss would spike something at the first wiff of controversy. Were I still so employed I’d now add “… and you alienate two.” For a total of four lost to social media for one retained for what was journalism

  6. Let’s call it what it really is: “COWARDICE”!!! With “The Orange Tyrant”” entering office, far too many people (they can no longer be called journalists) are afraid of his wrath (but are ashamed to admit it). The Founders risked death for treason for bucking a tyrant. Alas, few are as brave today.

    1. “We must all hang together or we shall certainly hang separately” wasn’t a joke.

  7. Seriously? I keep hearing: “…let both sides express their opinion….” Big whatever. We’ll see how things are in 4 years….maybe…..

  8. Funny this type of thing happened in Germany too…

  9. This is what cowardice looks like. There are no actual journalists working at this rag. Just sycophants and mewling tagalongs.

  10. It would seem that David Cuddihy is nothing more than a craven, bootlicking sycophant instead of a publisher. Democracy Dies In Darkness. And you are just enabling the eradication of free speech and the installation of an oligarch’s idiocracy.

  12. “As Americans we respect rights and views on all sides, however, we assure you, as your community newspaper this image does not reflect our viewpoint…”

    Then why did they publish it?

  13. Are you also bowing down to kiss the ring, or something like that?

  14. In fairness, it was his wife.

  15. It’s appropriate that this decision by the Latrobe “newspaper” occurs less than a week before Robbie Burns Day … because apparently the publishers are “Wee, sleekit, timorous, beasties” of a kind not seen since political cartoons became de rigeur all around the world.

  17. Red county “newspaper” openly being a stooge for the orange man. I can count on that county never seeing honest real news for the foreseeable future.

  18. The last of the National Anthem,
    “And the home of the brave.”
    It seem it does not apply to some people

  19. Bending the knee and raising the haunches für den Orangengott

  20. They were offended, one presumes, because the flag should have been depicted as flown at half-staff.

  21. Read the Facebook post Randy Bish shared (above) from Republican Rep. Leslie Baum Rossi. Look at the litany of responses: poor grammar, typos, blindly ignorant of history’s lessons… the epitome of idiocracy. This IS the new America, my friends. Debate is pointless. Dialogue will not convince. The voice of the People has spoken, telling the rest of us to shut the **** up.

  22. So, in the interest of pursuing content that avoids provocation and divisiveness, I imagine we can expect the Latrobe Bulletin to be redacting a large portion of Trump’s inaugural address.

  23. Whoopsie— looks our Big Brave He-Man Publisher has now dropped his column behind a paywall to stop comments.

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