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Some items tangentially connected to our mission: new Washington Post opinion page editor; Patreon takes a bigger piece of the pie; Animation Guilds protest AI generated art; Triple A baseball runs a Peanuts promotion.

The Washington Post Gets New Opinion Section Editor

From Politico:

The Washington Post has its new opinion editor, the publication announced Wednesday, as owner Jeff Bezos revamps the opinions section.

Bezos in February announced the Post would be doing away with its traditional broad opinion programming in favor of a section focused on pro-”personal liberties and free markets” editorials. The role of a news publication in setting the stakes for public discourse had changed, he said.

“There was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader’s doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views,” Bezos wrote in a note to staff. “Today, the internet does that job.”

The Washingtom Post Sunday Opinion masthead

From The New York Times (or here):

The Washington Post said Wednesday that it had hired Adam O’Neal, a correspondent from The Economist, to be its next opinion editor.

Mr. O’Neal will be charged with carrying out a new direction for the section laid out by Jeff Bezos, the owner of The Washington Post: to champion “personal liberties and free markets.” Before joining The Economist, Mr. O’Neal was an editorial page writer at The Wall Street Journal, where the opinion pages are reliably conservative.

What are the chances that The Washington Post’s new Opinion Editor will hire a staff editorial cartoonist? The major American newspaper hasn’t had a staff editoonist since Tom Toles retired five years ago. They seem enamored of Michael Ramirez. Can he be lured from the Las Vegas Review-Journal to a staff position at The WaPo?

Patreon will increase the cut it takes

Patreon, a creator monetization platform that offers membership programs and digital goods, announced on Monday that it is changing its pricing structure.

Currently, Patreon takes an 8% cut or a 12% cut from creators, depending on their selected tier — though the 8% plan is far more popular.

The new pricing plan instead offers one universal tier, which keeps 10% of creator earnings.

Amanda Silberling at TechCrunch has the details.

Support Your Local or Favorite Cartoonist through Patreon and Substack.

Industry Guilds Unite in Anti-AI Demonstration

In the midst of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and MIFA market, protesters from various international animation, video game, screenwriter and actors’ guilds gathered to protest the implementation of generative AI in audiovisual arts and entertainment productions, which threaten creative livelihoods across the industry.

Let’s Stop AI Generated Art logo

A statement — signed by more than 20 creative professionals organizations, including The Animation Guild (U.S./Canada), BECTU (Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union | U.K.), GWUI (Game Workers United Ireland), AWI (Animation Workers Ireland) and SPIAC-CGT (Syndicate of Audiovisual and Cinema Industries Professionals | France) — was read out Lauri Sanders, a Belgium-based director, storyboard, layout and background artist who heads the AI task force for the country’s ABRACA animation workers’ union.

Animation Magazine carries the story as reported by Deadline.

The Triple-A Reno Aces ran a Peanuts-themed giveaway

The Reno Aces, the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, are running an absolutely awesome “Peanuts” themed promotion on Saturday.

The Aces will be wearing comic strip jerseys featuring comic strips of the iconic cartoon, which chronicles the life and journey of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Woodstock and their friends, including Lucy, Linus, Sally, Marcie, Peppermint Patty, Franklin, Violet, Pigpen and others.

The Renos Aces Peanuts jerseys

In addition to the uniforms, fans in the ballpark are also getting Woodstock bobbleheads, which look pretty awesome too.

Reno Aces Woodstock bobblehead promo

Brady Farkas at Sports Illustrated tells us what we missed.

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Comments 4

  1. Michael Ramirez would seem to fit the editorial drift that WaPo is taking. Should his services become available, they might have to outbid the LA Times.

    1. Ramirez already has some connection with the Post, so that may just solidify. It looks as if Bezos is unable to visualize good editorial policy, but then he certainly is no journalist and has no appreciation for editorial independence of thought. The Ann Telnaes and Jennifer Rubin experiences with the Post have illustrated that clearly.

  2. Ramirez is one of the two cartoonists w/ some type of contract. The other is Edith Pritchett of Scotland

    1. But not “staff.”

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