(NEW YORK) Editorial cartoonists are joining together for a "Black Ink Monday" protest. On Dec. 12, these
artists will draw cartoons criticizing the newspaper industry -- and particularly the Tribune Co. -- for reducing
the number of editorial cartooning jobs.
Comic cartoonists have cooperated to do "theme days" on rare occasions. But this may be a first for
editorial cartoonists, said J.P. Trostle, news editor of Editorial Cartoonists.com -- the Web site of the
Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.
The site will publish the Dec. 12 cartoons criticizing the job losses. The AAEC also hopes newspapers will
publish the cartoons and syndicates will distribute them.
Trostle told E&P that he does not yet know how many cartoonists will participate. The AAEC has more than
300 members, with perhaps a third of them affiliated with daily newspapers and/or major syndicates.
He added that some cartoonists may do a protest cartoon just for the AAEC site (the drawings are due
Friday) and then create their usual cartoon for Dec. 12. Others may make their one and only Dec. 12 cartoon
the protest one. Trostle said it remains to be seen if any newspapers will balk at running these protest
drawings.
Among the reasons for the protest: "The Tribune Co.'s attitude has just flummoxed us," said Trostle,
referring to all the cartoonist jobs lost or unfilled at that chain's newspapers.
Kevin "KAL" Kallaugher just accepted a buyout at The Sun of Baltimore, where Mike Lane also took a buyout
in July 2004. The Sun said it doesn't plan to replace "KAL" in the foreseeable future. Also, the Los Angeles
Times announced last month that it was laying off Michael Ramirez at the end of 2005 and eliminating the
position. And the Chicago Tribune never replaced Jeff MacNelly after he died in 2000.
A statement about "Black Ink Monday" was posted Monday afternoon at EditorialCartoonists.com. Those
signing it, in addition to Trostle, were AAEC President Clay Bennett, AAEC President-Elect Rob Rogers, and
former AAEC President Bruce Plante.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Bennett is with The Christian Science Monitor and Christian Science Monitor
News Service, Rogers is with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and United Media, and the self-syndicated Plante
is with the Chattanooga (Tenn.) Times Free Press.
Dave Astor (dastor@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.
Related Articles...
Cartoonist Group Criticizes Tribune for Job Cuts
By Dave Astor
Published: November 22, 2005 4:25 PM ET
NEW YORK The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) criticized the Tribune Co. Tuesday for
its willingness to eliminate editorial cartooning positions.
In a letter sent Tuesday to Tribune CEO Dennis FitzSimons, AAEC President Clay Bennett first mentioned the
Los Angeles Times' decision to fire Michael Ramirez (E&P Online, Nov. 11). "The firing of a Pulitzer
Prize-winning cartoonist was understandably met with disbelief, but that disbelief quickly turned to dismay
when the Times announced it does not intend to fill the vacancy left by his dismissal," wrote Bennett, a
Pulitzer recipient himself.
Bennett, an editorial cartoonist with The Christian Science Monitor, added: "There are few journalists in a
newsroom who can define the tone and identity of a publication like an editorial cartoonist does. By
discarding those who make a newspaper unique, you rob it of its character. By robbing a newspaper of its
character, you steal its spirit."
The AAEC president's letter to FitzSimons concluded: "The fate of several editorial cartoonists now hangs in
the balance as other newspapers within your company look to make staff cuts. We hope that further
reductions can be achieved without the loss of any of the outstanding cartoonists that you currently employ.
The sacrifice of even one of them would be a disservice to their readers, a detriment to their newspaper,
and ultimately regrettable to the Tribune Co. itself."
FitzSimons had not yet seen the letter when E&P called his office just before this story was posted. Bennett
had e-mailed the letter Tuesday afternoon at about 3 p.m. Eastern time.
Among the other Tribune Co. cartoonists whose job status remains uncertain is Kevin "KAL" Kallaugher of
The Sun in Baltimore (E&P Online, Nov. 16). Kallaugher's former cartoon colleague, Mike Lane, accepted a
Sun buyout last year. And the Chicago Tribune never hired a new staff cartoonist after Jeff MacNelly died in
2000.
Dave Astor (dastor@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.
Tribune's Folly is Cutting Cartoonists
By Chris Lamb
Published: November 29, 2005
The Tribune Company, the Chicago-based media corporation, continues to do its part to gut journalism as a
vital part of American democracy by announcing massive layoffs at its newspapers earlier this month,
including the Los Angles Times. Among those losing their job at the Times was Michael Ramirez, the
newspaper's Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist.
Ramirez's departure was not lost on the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists. AAEC president Clay
Bennett wrote Tribune Company CEO Dennis FitzSimons a letter on November 22, saying: "There are few
journalists in a newsroom who can define the tone and identity of a publication like an editorial cartoon
does. By discarding those who make a newspaper unique, you rob it of its character. By robbing a
newspaper of its character, you steal its spirit."
Bennett is right.
Ramirez's departure continues a trend that has seen the number of cartoonists working for daily
newspapers fall to such low numbers they can qualify as endangered species. Like the bald eagle, editorial
cartoonists are worth protecting.
Editorial cartoonists keep a jaundiced eye on our leaders and expose them for their hypocrisies, follies, and
crimes. They remind us that we are a country that prides itself on its tradition of free _expression. Editorial
cartoons are as irreverent as the Boston Tea Party and as American as the First Amendment.
What makes the Tribune Company's decision to fire Ramirez all the more absurd is that editorial cartoonists
bring readers to newspapers. If FitzSimons and other media moguls are interested in preserving the
newspaper industry -- and I'm not sure they are -- they need to find ways to keep readers.
FitzSimons isn't alone in his eagerness to sell out newspapers and their indispensable function in American
society; he is, however, the poster child for what's wrong with the newspaper industry.
In an Oct. 10 article in The New Yorker, media critic Ken Auletta wrote: "Like most newspaper companies in
the United States, the Tribune Company has to confront not only declining circulation and disappointing
advertising sales but a belief on Wall Street that newspapers are a poor investment."
This is not to suggest that newspapers are not profitable. They are. It is common for a newspaper to make an
annual profit of 25% or more.
But newspapers shouldn't be viewed the same as other companies. Newspapers have an intrinsic value that
should not -- nor cannot -- be measured in dollars. A democracy depends on an informed citizenry, and an
informed citizenry depends on an aggressive newspaper industry. The Tribune Co.'s cuts to its newspapers'
editorial staffs aren't just bad for the newspaper industry; they're bad for America.
When Tribune bought the Times Mirror Company five years ago, it got a number of highly reputable
newspapers -- the Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Newsday, and the Hartford Courant. Tribune has since
cut editorial staffs to drive up profits. The result has been that all the aforementioned are weaker
newspapers than they were five years ago. As is the company's flagship newspaper, the Chicago Tribune.
In his letter to FitzSimons, Bennett criticized the Tribune Company's announcement that it would not replace
Ramirez. Bennett said he hoped the Tribune Company's future layoffs would spare its other cartoonists --
Kevin Kallaugher of the Baltimore Sun, Walt Handelsman of Newsday, and Bob Englehart of the Courant -- all
among the better cartoonists in America.
Bennett has reason to be skeptical. When Jeff MacNelly, who won two Pulitzer Prizes with the Chicago
Tribune, died in 2000, the newspapers vowed that it would replace him. The promise continues to go
unfulfilled. As does the promise of American journalism.
Chris Lamb (letters@editorandpublisher.com) , Ph.D., an associate professor of Media Studies at the College of
Charleston (Charleston, S.C.), is author of "Drawn to Extremes: The Use and Abuse of Editorial Cartoons," which
was published by Columbia University Press in December 2004. He can be reached at lambc@cofc.edu.
Wiley Miller Suggests Editorial Cartoonists Stop Syndicating Their Work
By Dave Astor
Published: December 06, 2005 3:33 PM ET
(NEW YORK) "Non Sequitur" creator Wiley Miller thinks editorial cartoonists should protest job losses by
withholding their work from syndication for at least a week or month.
This would be in addition to the "Black Ink Monday" protest planned for Dec. 12, when cartoonists will draw
cartoons criticizing the downsizing of their profession.
Miller -- a former editorial cartoonist who periodically puts topical content in his "Non Sequitur"comic -- likes
the idea of "Black Ink Monday." But he doesn't think it goes far enough.
"The biggest problem is that staff cartoonists are too easily replaced with cheap syndicated cartoons," said
Miller. So staff cartoonists who syndicate, he added, are indirectly "taking the jobs of others."
But if staff cartoonists stopped syndicating temporarily or permanently, would some newspapers run no
cartoons at all? "I doubt that would be the case, as the biggest reason cartoons are run on the editorial
page to begin with is to have art break up all the copy," replied Miller. "If any newspapers decide to go
entirely without, then that's their business. Hardly a reason to continue with something that's costing
everyone their jobs."
Miller said he's OK with editorial cartoonists -- such as Pat Oliphant of Universal Press Syndicate and Ann
Telnaes of the Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate/New York Times Syndicate -- who syndicate without being
based at a specific newspaper.
Another way to possibly save staff jobs is to increase the price of syndicated editorial cartoons, according to
Miller. "If we raised the rates -- and I mean a substantial raise in rates, like charging $100 for every reprint
instead of just a couple of bucks -- then there would be less incentive for editors to replace their staff
cartoonist," he said.
Miller said he realized while working as a San Francisco Examiner editorial cartoonist more than 15 years
ago that syndication could cause job losses in his profession. "So I took myself out of syndication," he
recalled.
The former Examiner staffer posted his stop-syndication suggestion Tuesday on the chat board of the
Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, which is coordinating the "Black Ink Monday" protest. Miller
e-mailed a copy of his post to E&P, after which he was interviewed for this story.
"Non Sequitur" appears in more than 700 newspapers via Universal.
Dave Astor (dastor@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.
Baltimore 'Sun' Cartoonist Discusses a Buyout He Initially Didn't Expect to Take
By Dave Astor
Published: December 07, 2005 10:05 AM ET
NEW YORK When staffers at The Sun of Baltimore were offered buyout packages this fall, Kevin "KAL"
Kallaugher initially thought he wouldn't be leaving the paper. The political cartoonist figured his
award-winning career would keep his job safe as the editorial department he worked in was reduced from 13
to 11 people.
But then Kallaugher heard that The Sun's publisher had discussed eliminating the cartoonist slot entirely to
save money. "Rather than wait for the ax to drop on my position at The Sun, I opted for the buyout," said
Kallaugher, speaking on the phone Tuesday night from Landau, Germany, where he'll receive the Thomas
Nast Prize this Thursday.
Kallaugher is dismayed that The Sun won't replace him -- for what the paper calls "the foreseeable future" --
following his Jan. 13 departure. "I hope they would reconsider," he said.
After his 17-year tenure with The Sun ends, Kallaugher plans to continue doing editorial cartoons for the
Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate (marketed by the New York Times Syndicate), continue creating a weekly
cartoon for The Economist magazine, and work on his fifth cartoon collection -- "KAL Draws Criticism," which
is slated to be published this spring.
"I also plan to reacquaint myself with animation," added Kallaugher, who has worked in that area periodically
during his career. He did a 13-minute animated cartoon for his senior thesis at Harvard in 1977, worked on
animated TV commercials while living in England in the 1980s, and did Flash animation more recently for
shows such as "Nightline."
Kallaugher's buyout was one of 70 announced by The Sun this month. It also continued a trend of cartoonist
job losses at Tribune Co.-owned papers.
Last month, the Los Angeles Times announced it was laying off Michael Ramirez at the end of 2005 and
eliminating the position. The Sun's Mike Lane, who shared editorial cartooning duties with Kallaugher,
accepted a buyout in July 2004. And the Chicago Tribune never replaced Jeff MacNelly after he died in 2000.
Kallaugher said it seems the Tribune Co. doesn't value "the special contribution a resident cartoonist brings
to their newspapers."
Dave Astor (dastor@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.
Tribune Co. Cartoonists Hope Their Local Focus Ensures Job Security
By Dave Astor
Published: December 07, 2005 4:33 PM ET
(NEW YORK) They undoubtedly have some job-security fears, but editorial cartoonists who survived
cutbacks at Tribune Co. papers hope their local commentary will be among the things that keep them
employed.
E&P Online called several of these survivors Wednesday to see how they're doing now that other Tribune
Co. cartoonists -- including Michael Ramirez of the Los Angeles Times and Kevin "KAL" Kallaugher of The
Sun in Baltimore -- are losing their jobs.
"I was offered a buyout two of three weeks ago, but I didn't take it," said Bob Englehart of The Hartford
(Conn.) Courant. "I have no intention of leaving any time soon."
Englehart, who will mark his 25th anniversary at the paper on Dec. 15, said he feels his job is safe for the
foreseeable future. And he's trying to keep it that way by continuing to devote about half of his cartoons to
Hartford and Connecticut topics.
"The only insurance an editorial cartoonist has -- if he or she has any insurance at all -- is to focus on local
issues," said Englehart. "Newspapers can buy national cartoons from syndicates, and get Pulitzer Prize
winners by the pound."
Englehart, who's syndicated by Cagle Cartoons, said his non-local commentary has little impact on things like
the Iraq War and the price of oil. "But I can make the mayor or the governor look like an idiot," he added,
noting that his cartoons may have contributed at least somewhat to last year's resignation of Connecticut
Gov. John Rowland amidst corruption charges.
Of course, doing a lot of local commentary doesn't guarantee that a cartoonist's job will last. Kallaugher
often commented on Baltimore and Maryland issues.
Another Tribune Co. cartoonist, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel's Dana Summers, said of his job: "I've been told
I'm OK." And Summers, who joined the Sentinel in 1982, also emphasized the importance of local commentary.
"I'm trying to do more local stuff," he said. "I'm trying to make myself as valuable as I can. Last year, I went to
the Super Bowl for sports. If I can do any extra things, I do them."
Summers, whose editorial cartoons are syndicated by Tribune Media Services, has also done the "Bound &
Gagged" comic and co-authored "The Middletons" strip for TMS for a number of years. He said those two
features provide "a little bit of a safety net" if the Sentinel editorial cartoonist job ever disappears, but
added that losing a full-time salary and benefits would be difficult.
While the Tribune Co. has been in the news lately for shedding cartoon jobs, Summers noted that
non-Tribune Co. papers have also eliminated cartoon positions in recent years. "It's all over the place," he
said, citing figures indicating that staff jobs have dropped from more than 200 to less than 90 in the U.S.
"That's really frightening."
Walt Handelsman of the Tribune Co.-owned Newsday in Melville, N.Y., and TMS mentioned the local
connection as well. He said "my cartoons about Long Island and New York City generate a lot of reaction,"
and that "the outreach I do in the community" -- including talking at schools -- helps brings new readers to
the paper.
"Cartoonists, like local columnists, add a personality to a newspaper that's unattainable by buying
syndicated work," said the 1997 Pulitzer winner, who joined Newsday in 2001.
Another Tribune Co. cartoonist, Chan Lowe of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale and TMS,
could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Dave Astor (dastor@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.
artists will draw cartoons criticizing the newspaper industry -- and particularly the Tribune Co. -- for reducing
the number of editorial cartooning jobs.
Comic cartoonists have cooperated to do "theme days" on rare occasions. But this may be a first for
editorial cartoonists, said J.P. Trostle, news editor of Editorial Cartoonists.com -- the Web site of the
Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.
The site will publish the Dec. 12 cartoons criticizing the job losses. The AAEC also hopes newspapers will
publish the cartoons and syndicates will distribute them.
Trostle told E&P that he does not yet know how many cartoonists will participate. The AAEC has more than
300 members, with perhaps a third of them affiliated with daily newspapers and/or major syndicates.
He added that some cartoonists may do a protest cartoon just for the AAEC site (the drawings are due
Friday) and then create their usual cartoon for Dec. 12. Others may make their one and only Dec. 12 cartoon
the protest one. Trostle said it remains to be seen if any newspapers will balk at running these protest
drawings.
Among the reasons for the protest: "The Tribune Co.'s attitude has just flummoxed us," said Trostle,
referring to all the cartoonist jobs lost or unfilled at that chain's newspapers.
Kevin "KAL" Kallaugher just accepted a buyout at The Sun of Baltimore, where Mike Lane also took a buyout
in July 2004. The Sun said it doesn't plan to replace "KAL" in the foreseeable future. Also, the Los Angeles
Times announced last month that it was laying off Michael Ramirez at the end of 2005 and eliminating the
position. And the Chicago Tribune never replaced Jeff MacNelly after he died in 2000.
A statement about "Black Ink Monday" was posted Monday afternoon at EditorialCartoonists.com. Those
signing it, in addition to Trostle, were AAEC President Clay Bennett, AAEC President-Elect Rob Rogers, and
former AAEC President Bruce Plante.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Bennett is with The Christian Science Monitor and Christian Science Monitor
News Service, Rogers is with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and United Media, and the self-syndicated Plante
is with the Chattanooga (Tenn.) Times Free Press.
Dave Astor (dastor@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.
Related Articles...
Cartoonist Group Criticizes Tribune for Job Cuts
By Dave Astor
Published: November 22, 2005 4:25 PM ET
NEW YORK The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) criticized the Tribune Co. Tuesday for
its willingness to eliminate editorial cartooning positions.
In a letter sent Tuesday to Tribune CEO Dennis FitzSimons, AAEC President Clay Bennett first mentioned the
Los Angeles Times' decision to fire Michael Ramirez (E&P Online, Nov. 11). "The firing of a Pulitzer
Prize-winning cartoonist was understandably met with disbelief, but that disbelief quickly turned to dismay
when the Times announced it does not intend to fill the vacancy left by his dismissal," wrote Bennett, a
Pulitzer recipient himself.
Bennett, an editorial cartoonist with The Christian Science Monitor, added: "There are few journalists in a
newsroom who can define the tone and identity of a publication like an editorial cartoonist does. By
discarding those who make a newspaper unique, you rob it of its character. By robbing a newspaper of its
character, you steal its spirit."
The AAEC president's letter to FitzSimons concluded: "The fate of several editorial cartoonists now hangs in
the balance as other newspapers within your company look to make staff cuts. We hope that further
reductions can be achieved without the loss of any of the outstanding cartoonists that you currently employ.
The sacrifice of even one of them would be a disservice to their readers, a detriment to their newspaper,
and ultimately regrettable to the Tribune Co. itself."
FitzSimons had not yet seen the letter when E&P called his office just before this story was posted. Bennett
had e-mailed the letter Tuesday afternoon at about 3 p.m. Eastern time.
Among the other Tribune Co. cartoonists whose job status remains uncertain is Kevin "KAL" Kallaugher of
The Sun in Baltimore (E&P Online, Nov. 16). Kallaugher's former cartoon colleague, Mike Lane, accepted a
Sun buyout last year. And the Chicago Tribune never hired a new staff cartoonist after Jeff MacNelly died in
2000.
Dave Astor (dastor@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.
Tribune's Folly is Cutting Cartoonists
By Chris Lamb
Published: November 29, 2005
The Tribune Company, the Chicago-based media corporation, continues to do its part to gut journalism as a
vital part of American democracy by announcing massive layoffs at its newspapers earlier this month,
including the Los Angles Times. Among those losing their job at the Times was Michael Ramirez, the
newspaper's Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist.
Ramirez's departure was not lost on the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists. AAEC president Clay
Bennett wrote Tribune Company CEO Dennis FitzSimons a letter on November 22, saying: "There are few
journalists in a newsroom who can define the tone and identity of a publication like an editorial cartoon
does. By discarding those who make a newspaper unique, you rob it of its character. By robbing a
newspaper of its character, you steal its spirit."
Bennett is right.
Ramirez's departure continues a trend that has seen the number of cartoonists working for daily
newspapers fall to such low numbers they can qualify as endangered species. Like the bald eagle, editorial
cartoonists are worth protecting.
Editorial cartoonists keep a jaundiced eye on our leaders and expose them for their hypocrisies, follies, and
crimes. They remind us that we are a country that prides itself on its tradition of free _expression. Editorial
cartoons are as irreverent as the Boston Tea Party and as American as the First Amendment.
What makes the Tribune Company's decision to fire Ramirez all the more absurd is that editorial cartoonists
bring readers to newspapers. If FitzSimons and other media moguls are interested in preserving the
newspaper industry -- and I'm not sure they are -- they need to find ways to keep readers.
FitzSimons isn't alone in his eagerness to sell out newspapers and their indispensable function in American
society; he is, however, the poster child for what's wrong with the newspaper industry.
In an Oct. 10 article in The New Yorker, media critic Ken Auletta wrote: "Like most newspaper companies in
the United States, the Tribune Company has to confront not only declining circulation and disappointing
advertising sales but a belief on Wall Street that newspapers are a poor investment."
This is not to suggest that newspapers are not profitable. They are. It is common for a newspaper to make an
annual profit of 25% or more.
But newspapers shouldn't be viewed the same as other companies. Newspapers have an intrinsic value that
should not -- nor cannot -- be measured in dollars. A democracy depends on an informed citizenry, and an
informed citizenry depends on an aggressive newspaper industry. The Tribune Co.'s cuts to its newspapers'
editorial staffs aren't just bad for the newspaper industry; they're bad for America.
When Tribune bought the Times Mirror Company five years ago, it got a number of highly reputable
newspapers -- the Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Newsday, and the Hartford Courant. Tribune has since
cut editorial staffs to drive up profits. The result has been that all the aforementioned are weaker
newspapers than they were five years ago. As is the company's flagship newspaper, the Chicago Tribune.
In his letter to FitzSimons, Bennett criticized the Tribune Company's announcement that it would not replace
Ramirez. Bennett said he hoped the Tribune Company's future layoffs would spare its other cartoonists --
Kevin Kallaugher of the Baltimore Sun, Walt Handelsman of Newsday, and Bob Englehart of the Courant -- all
among the better cartoonists in America.
Bennett has reason to be skeptical. When Jeff MacNelly, who won two Pulitzer Prizes with the Chicago
Tribune, died in 2000, the newspapers vowed that it would replace him. The promise continues to go
unfulfilled. As does the promise of American journalism.
Chris Lamb (letters@editorandpublisher.com) , Ph.D., an associate professor of Media Studies at the College of
Charleston (Charleston, S.C.), is author of "Drawn to Extremes: The Use and Abuse of Editorial Cartoons," which
was published by Columbia University Press in December 2004. He can be reached at lambc@cofc.edu.
Wiley Miller Suggests Editorial Cartoonists Stop Syndicating Their Work
By Dave Astor
Published: December 06, 2005 3:33 PM ET
(NEW YORK) "Non Sequitur" creator Wiley Miller thinks editorial cartoonists should protest job losses by
withholding their work from syndication for at least a week or month.
This would be in addition to the "Black Ink Monday" protest planned for Dec. 12, when cartoonists will draw
cartoons criticizing the downsizing of their profession.
Miller -- a former editorial cartoonist who periodically puts topical content in his "Non Sequitur"comic -- likes
the idea of "Black Ink Monday." But he doesn't think it goes far enough.
"The biggest problem is that staff cartoonists are too easily replaced with cheap syndicated cartoons," said
Miller. So staff cartoonists who syndicate, he added, are indirectly "taking the jobs of others."
But if staff cartoonists stopped syndicating temporarily or permanently, would some newspapers run no
cartoons at all? "I doubt that would be the case, as the biggest reason cartoons are run on the editorial
page to begin with is to have art break up all the copy," replied Miller. "If any newspapers decide to go
entirely without, then that's their business. Hardly a reason to continue with something that's costing
everyone their jobs."
Miller said he's OK with editorial cartoonists -- such as Pat Oliphant of Universal Press Syndicate and Ann
Telnaes of the Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate/New York Times Syndicate -- who syndicate without being
based at a specific newspaper.
Another way to possibly save staff jobs is to increase the price of syndicated editorial cartoons, according to
Miller. "If we raised the rates -- and I mean a substantial raise in rates, like charging $100 for every reprint
instead of just a couple of bucks -- then there would be less incentive for editors to replace their staff
cartoonist," he said.
Miller said he realized while working as a San Francisco Examiner editorial cartoonist more than 15 years
ago that syndication could cause job losses in his profession. "So I took myself out of syndication," he
recalled.
The former Examiner staffer posted his stop-syndication suggestion Tuesday on the chat board of the
Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, which is coordinating the "Black Ink Monday" protest. Miller
e-mailed a copy of his post to E&P, after which he was interviewed for this story.
"Non Sequitur" appears in more than 700 newspapers via Universal.
Dave Astor (dastor@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.
Baltimore 'Sun' Cartoonist Discusses a Buyout He Initially Didn't Expect to Take
By Dave Astor
Published: December 07, 2005 10:05 AM ET
NEW YORK When staffers at The Sun of Baltimore were offered buyout packages this fall, Kevin "KAL"
Kallaugher initially thought he wouldn't be leaving the paper. The political cartoonist figured his
award-winning career would keep his job safe as the editorial department he worked in was reduced from 13
to 11 people.
But then Kallaugher heard that The Sun's publisher had discussed eliminating the cartoonist slot entirely to
save money. "Rather than wait for the ax to drop on my position at The Sun, I opted for the buyout," said
Kallaugher, speaking on the phone Tuesday night from Landau, Germany, where he'll receive the Thomas
Nast Prize this Thursday.
Kallaugher is dismayed that The Sun won't replace him -- for what the paper calls "the foreseeable future" --
following his Jan. 13 departure. "I hope they would reconsider," he said.
After his 17-year tenure with The Sun ends, Kallaugher plans to continue doing editorial cartoons for the
Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate (marketed by the New York Times Syndicate), continue creating a weekly
cartoon for The Economist magazine, and work on his fifth cartoon collection -- "KAL Draws Criticism," which
is slated to be published this spring.
"I also plan to reacquaint myself with animation," added Kallaugher, who has worked in that area periodically
during his career. He did a 13-minute animated cartoon for his senior thesis at Harvard in 1977, worked on
animated TV commercials while living in England in the 1980s, and did Flash animation more recently for
shows such as "Nightline."
Kallaugher's buyout was one of 70 announced by The Sun this month. It also continued a trend of cartoonist
job losses at Tribune Co.-owned papers.
Last month, the Los Angeles Times announced it was laying off Michael Ramirez at the end of 2005 and
eliminating the position. The Sun's Mike Lane, who shared editorial cartooning duties with Kallaugher,
accepted a buyout in July 2004. And the Chicago Tribune never replaced Jeff MacNelly after he died in 2000.
Kallaugher said it seems the Tribune Co. doesn't value "the special contribution a resident cartoonist brings
to their newspapers."
Dave Astor (dastor@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.
Tribune Co. Cartoonists Hope Their Local Focus Ensures Job Security
By Dave Astor
Published: December 07, 2005 4:33 PM ET
(NEW YORK) They undoubtedly have some job-security fears, but editorial cartoonists who survived
cutbacks at Tribune Co. papers hope their local commentary will be among the things that keep them
employed.
E&P Online called several of these survivors Wednesday to see how they're doing now that other Tribune
Co. cartoonists -- including Michael Ramirez of the Los Angeles Times and Kevin "KAL" Kallaugher of The
Sun in Baltimore -- are losing their jobs.
"I was offered a buyout two of three weeks ago, but I didn't take it," said Bob Englehart of The Hartford
(Conn.) Courant. "I have no intention of leaving any time soon."
Englehart, who will mark his 25th anniversary at the paper on Dec. 15, said he feels his job is safe for the
foreseeable future. And he's trying to keep it that way by continuing to devote about half of his cartoons to
Hartford and Connecticut topics.
"The only insurance an editorial cartoonist has -- if he or she has any insurance at all -- is to focus on local
issues," said Englehart. "Newspapers can buy national cartoons from syndicates, and get Pulitzer Prize
winners by the pound."
Englehart, who's syndicated by Cagle Cartoons, said his non-local commentary has little impact on things like
the Iraq War and the price of oil. "But I can make the mayor or the governor look like an idiot," he added,
noting that his cartoons may have contributed at least somewhat to last year's resignation of Connecticut
Gov. John Rowland amidst corruption charges.
Of course, doing a lot of local commentary doesn't guarantee that a cartoonist's job will last. Kallaugher
often commented on Baltimore and Maryland issues.
Another Tribune Co. cartoonist, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel's Dana Summers, said of his job: "I've been told
I'm OK." And Summers, who joined the Sentinel in 1982, also emphasized the importance of local commentary.
"I'm trying to do more local stuff," he said. "I'm trying to make myself as valuable as I can. Last year, I went to
the Super Bowl for sports. If I can do any extra things, I do them."
Summers, whose editorial cartoons are syndicated by Tribune Media Services, has also done the "Bound &
Gagged" comic and co-authored "The Middletons" strip for TMS for a number of years. He said those two
features provide "a little bit of a safety net" if the Sentinel editorial cartoonist job ever disappears, but
added that losing a full-time salary and benefits would be difficult.
While the Tribune Co. has been in the news lately for shedding cartoon jobs, Summers noted that
non-Tribune Co. papers have also eliminated cartoon positions in recent years. "It's all over the place," he
said, citing figures indicating that staff jobs have dropped from more than 200 to less than 90 in the U.S.
"That's really frightening."
Walt Handelsman of the Tribune Co.-owned Newsday in Melville, N.Y., and TMS mentioned the local
connection as well. He said "my cartoons about Long Island and New York City generate a lot of reaction,"
and that "the outreach I do in the community" -- including talking at schools -- helps brings new readers to
the paper.
"Cartoonists, like local columnists, add a personality to a newspaper that's unattainable by buying
syndicated work," said the 1997 Pulitzer winner, who joined Newsday in 2001.
Another Tribune Co. cartoonist, Chan Lowe of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale and TMS,
could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Dave Astor (dastor@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.
| MORE CUTS TO CARTOONING IN THE U.S. Black Ink Monday to mark a national protest on December 12, 2005 |