At Cartoonists' Confab: Comments on Coulter and Colbert

By: Dave Astor National Public Radio host Scott Simon discussed Judith Miller, Ann Coulter, Stephen Colbert, and the Danish cartoon controversy during keynote remarks at the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) convention here Saturday night.

"I don't know Judith Miller," said Simon. "I understand that she's easier to defend if you don't know her. But I'm still upset by the fact that a reporter was put in prison and left to languish there. I'd feel the same way about Robert Novak and Ann Coulter -- although I admit," the speaker added jokingly, "that the thought of Ann Coulter in chains is attractive!"

Coulter, of course, is the Universal Press Syndicate columnist whose nasty remarks about 9/11 widows were all over the news this week. Novak is the Chicago Sun-Times/Creators Syndicate columnist who named CIA agent Valerie Plame in a 2003 column. And Miller is the former New York Times reporter.

Simon said jailing a journalist, even one as compromised as many feel Miller was, sets a "very dangerous" precedent.

Printing the Danish cartoons about Prophet Muhammad turned out to be a dangerous move, but Simon defended the right of newspapers to publish them. "That being said, I didn't like a lot of the cartoons. Some of them were humorless Muslim-bashing," he added.

The AAEC speaker also defended Colbert, of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," for his famous speech at the White House correspondents dinner in April. "He doesn't owe anyone an apology," said Simon, who has reported from all 50 states and many foreign countries. "I couldn't understand the surprise of the Washington press corps." What they got from Colbert is what they should have expected, he noted.

Simon is disturbed by the partisanship in much of today's media. "They should sometimes challenge their audience and expose them to ideas and viewpoints they may not want to hear," he said.

Commentators most admired by Simon include those who occasionally offer the unexpected. "Former New York Times columnist William Safire is a conservative, but he could surprise you," he recalled. "Safire could bash Republican administrations over wiretapping and certain foreign issues. William F. Buckley [the conservative Universal columnist] is an advocate for gay rights in his way."

Simon said he has been a fan of editorial cartoonists since first seeing the work of people like the late Bill Mauldin and the late Jeff MacNelly. "Cartoonists are among the few people in this business that I not only admire but envy," he told the AAEC audience. "It's a great way to earn a living even though the job prospects are dwindling."

Many newspapers are using syndicated cartoons rather than employing staff cartoonists in order to save money and "not offend local interests," said Simon. "But we're losing a diversity of viewpoints, losing a kind of localism, and losing people who might become a Mike Peters of the future" -- referring to the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News/King Features Syndicate cartoonist.

The AAEC helps future professional cartoonists with its annual Locher Award for best college cartoonist. This year's winner, William Warren of Wake Forest University, accepted the honor at the same Saturday-night banquet that Simon keynoted.

The award -- named after John Locher, the late son of Tribune Media Services (TMS) editorial cartoonist Dick Locher -- was launched 20 years ago. Since then, a number of winners have found scarce staff editorial cartoonist jobs. Among them are 1987 winner Kevin Siers, now of The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer and King; 1989 winner Mike Thompson, now of the Detroit Free Press and Copley News Service; 1991 winner Steve Breen, now of The San Diego Union-Tribune and Copley; 1993 winner Marshall Ramsey, now of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., and Copley; and 1995 winner Drew Sheneman, now of The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., and TMS. Thompson and Ramsey were Pulitzer Prize finalists this year, and Breen is a past Pulitzer winner.

Also presented was the AAEC's annual Golden Spike Award for the best cartoon that a newspaper wouldn't run. The winner was Michael de Adder of Canada's Halifax (Nova Scotia) Daily News. His drawing, done after the successor to Pope John Paul II was announced, was captioned: "Cardinals send a message to moderate Catholics." The cartoon showed smoke emanating from the Vatican in the shape of a middle finger.

AAEC President Clay Bennett of The Christian Science Monitor, in his closing remarks, included a mention of various editorial cartoonists who won the Pulitzer Prize and other national awards this year.

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The following letter was sent to E&P after this story was posted:

Dear Editor & Publisher:

Your quotation of some of my remarks as the after-dinner appearance speaker at the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists convention in Denver were not wrong. But they lackedcontext.

In addressing the jailing of Judith Miller, I did say something more or less like, "I'm still upset by the fact that a reporter was put in prison and left to languish there. I'd feel the same way about Robert Novak and Ann Coulter -- although I admit that the thought of Ann Coulter in chains is attractive!"

But that observation was delivered with a clearly comedic pause, tone, and facial expression. The audience understood that, and laughed. I want Editor & Publisher readers to know that I defend Ann Coulter's rights of free expression, and those of any other journalist, commentator, or citizen, without reservation.

With thanks,

Scott Simon
NPR

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Editor's note: The original story had an exclamation point to convey Scott Simon's comedic tone. But, after receiving Simon's letter, E&P added some words to make it more clear that Simon's tone was comedic.