Baltimore 'Sun' Cartoonist Discusses a Buyout He Initially Didn't Expect to Take

By: Dave Astor 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."