Cartoonists Hit By Job Cuts

By: Dave Astor Dozens of creators temporarily left their jobs to attend the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) convention in Toronto, where they heard about a rash of job cuts that in some cases may be permanent. Approximately a half-dozen of the 150 or so editorial cartoonists in the United States have lost their posts during the past few weeks.

The San Diego Union-Tribune canned Steve Kelley over a controversial cartoon and replaced him with Steve Breen of the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press. The Boston Globe's Paul Szep and the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel's Ralph Dunagin accepted early-retirement buyouts as part of parent- company-ordered staff cuts.

Also, Bill Schorr and the New York Daily News parted ways about a month ago. "We don't discuss personnel matters," said Daily News spokesman Ken Frydman, when asked the circumstances of Schorr's departure and whether he'll be replaced.

Mark Fiore and the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News will part ways, too, at the end of this month, and Dick Wright was let go from The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch and Daryl Cagle from The Honolulu Advertiser in cost-cutting moves.

"Never before has our profession been so threatened," said AAEC President David Horsey of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Tribune Media Services (TMS).

Dunagin, who told E&P from Orlando that he was "on the verge of retiring anyway," doesn't think his post will be refilled, but added that the Sentinel still has editorial cartoonist Dana Summers on staff. The Globe (which still employs Dan Wasserman) and the Dispatch (where Jim Larrick remains) were also two-cartoonist papers.

While the scope of recent job reductions is unusual, the number of full-time positions has shrunk for years as more papers use syndicated rather than local cartoons to save money and/or to avoid stirring controversy with some readers, advertisers, and politicians.

Dick Locher -- speaking on a convention panel about "navigating the climax of your career" -- said cartoonists trying to keep their jobs should strive to have a good relationship with their editors, offer to do extra work (such as illustrating letters to the editor), and attempt to get syndicated. The Chicago Tribune/TMS creator noted that an editor "might be reluctant to can you" if the paper's name is seen around the nation.

But a couple of audience members said cartoonists can lose their jobs no matter what they do. Indeed, several recently dropped cartoonists, including Kelley and Schorr, were syndicated. Copley News Service let Kelley go, but United Feature Syndicate is still distributing Schorr.

Locher's co-panelists were meeting host Andy Donato and Hy Rosen -- two other cartoonists who've also fared better than many of their peers. Donato accepted a buyout from The Toronto Sun seven years ago, but still does cartoons for the paper as a contract free-lancer. Rosen retired from the Albany, N.Y., Times Union, but continues to draw cartoons for it while also painting and sculpting. He said the "name recognition" he built at the paper has helped him get commissions to do statues.

Nader On the Media and Cartoons

Someone with lots of name recognition is Ralph Nader, who talked to AAECers about media coverage of his recent Green Party presidential campaign. He noted that he's been blamed for swinging the election to George W. Bush, but said Al Gore has himself to blame. Nader mentioned, among other things, that Gore lost his home state of Tennessee and performed poorly in the televised presidential debates.
Speaking of the debates, Nader said third-party candidates have little chance to reach "tens of millions" of voters if they're not allowed to participate.

He added that the Democratic and Republican parties aren't far apart: "Their similarities tower over the differences they're willing to fight over. They've become one corporate party with two heads wearing different makeup."

Nader also said he'd like to see more cartoons about globalization. "I know how difficult they must be to draw," he said. "But I hope you find a way to visualize it for people. If an issue is important, it can be conveyed and made interesting by the media."

The consumer advocate said globalization needs to be addressed because it harms average citizens -- noting that multinational corporations can ride roughshod over a country's environmental and safety regulations, and eliminate well-paying jobs in one country and hire low-wage workers in another. He added that "supra-governmental" bodies such as the World Trade Organization meet in secret, with no press allowed.

The speaker said few journalists or members of Congress bother to peruse the full text of trade agreements, which include "antidemocratic" clauses. "The press reads summaries and memos," Nader observed.

Conversation About Globalization

Before Nader spoke, Los Angeles Times reporter Evelyn Iritani moderated a globalization session that "will help us in our cartoons in the days to come," said Horsey.
One panelist, former Canadian Finance Minister Mike Wilson, supports free trade between his country and the United States. "This has been very good for Canada," he said, noting, for instance, that Canada's exports to the States are growing slightly faster than imports from its neighbor.

But Ed Broadbent, former leader of Canada's New Democratic Party, said he's troubled by various aspects of globalization -- including a rise in foreign takeovers of Canadian firms and a clause in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that allows multinational corporations to sue governments. "I want [the private sector] to be the servant of society, not the master of society," he said.

Wilson countered that this clause is necessary to protect corporate investment that brings "technological know-how" and jobs to countries. But Deborah Bourque, national vice president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, said many of these jobs are low-paying and temporary.

Anti-Smoking Advocate At AAEC

In another session, Alan Blum said there's been many anti-smoking cartoons during the past decade as public disgust with tobacco has grown. The director of the University of Alabama Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society showed examples from his collection of 1,250 such cartoons -- including one, by Rex Babin of The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee and North America Syndicate, picturing Washington's Capitol Building as a big cigarette lighter.
Blum said ridicule is an important weapon in the fight against smoking. "These guys [the tobacco industry] need to be laughed at," he commented.

Hearing From "Hardball" Host

AAECers also heard from Chris Matthews, the San Francisco Chronicle/Newspaper Enterprise Association columnist who hosts MSNBC's "Hardball" show. He said Bush doesn't speak enough to the media and Americans in general, and that it's good for talk-show hosts to have a writing background because it gives them "discipline" and the ability to "think things through. ... I don't think you should be allowed on television unless you can write."
Canadians Comment On the U.S.

Two Toronto columnists joined two Canadian cartoonists on another panel. The Globe and Mail writer Rick Salutin said Canadian satirists tend to have a lighter touch than U.S. ones. "Americans can be awfully funny, but have always been weak in the subcategory of political satire in which cartoons fall," he stated. "Having been raised with extravagant myths of their country's idealistic benevolence, Americans often erupt with a furious sense of betrayal when they discover its failings, and lose the detachment necessary for satire."

Canada's humor style does seem to connect with many Americans. Toronto Sun columnist Peter Worthington noted that people such as Dan Aykroyd, Jim Carrey, Michael J. Fox, and Mike Myers all hail from Canada -- as do many nonhumorist celebrities, including TV anchor Peter Jennings and singer Alanis Morissette. But while Canadian entertainers thrive down south, the United States dominates in many other ways. "We are the mouse and the U.S. is the elephant," said editorial cartoonist Roy Peterson of The Vancouver Sun in British Columbia and the Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate (CWS).

"Ninety percent of Canadians live within 100 miles of the border," added cartoonist Terry "Aislin" Mosher of The Gazette in Montreal and CWS. "We watch your movies. We read your books. We drive your cars. We know so much about America, but you know virtually nothing about us."

Other News From the Convention

The AAEC also honored Jim Lange for 50 years of cartooning with The Daily Oklahoman of Oklahoma City, and gave its "Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award" to the CWS-syndicated Nik Kowsar of Iran, where he was jailed last year for his work.

In addition, Ted Rall of Universal Press Syndicate discussed a planned 2002 collection, from NBM Publishing, of cartoons by AAEC members. And Horsey reported on a possible partnership in which the Freedom Forum would provide money to the AAEC, which in turn would provide the Freedom Forum with such things as speakers and cartoons for exhibits and a book.

Horsey will be succeeded in September as AAEC president by Scott Stantis of The Birmingham (Ala.) News and Copley.