Cartoonists Should Embrace Web, Conference Hears

By: Dave Astor Political cartoonists, who work in a profession with a shrinking number of staff jobs, should welcome the rise of the Internet.

That's according to Denver Rocky Mountain News Editor John Temple, who told Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) conventiongoers Friday: "If I was in this group, I'd be optimistic [about online opportunities]. People in this room are creative, and I think the new media era is going to reward that."

But how? Many cartoonists have work on the Web, but few make much money that way. "You still need a newspaper salary to pay the rent," acknowledged another editor panelist -- Scott Clark of the Houston Chronicle's Chrom.com.

"Perhaps there's a way to be compensated partly based on the traffic you generate," said Temple, who also suggested the possibility of cartoons going to readers in ad-supported e-mails.

What about online cartooning jobs? "Many media sites redistribute things created in traditional media, but few have their own cartoonists," said editorial cartoonist Daryl Cagle, who runs a large cartoon site and the Cagle Cartoons syndicate. He then asked the editor panelists: "Would any of you hire a paid cartoonist for your Web site?"

Howard Saltz of Media News Group Interactive (and formerly of The Denver Post) said no. "Everyone should be multimedia journalists," he said, meaning they should work for both the print and online editions of their newspapers.

Indeed, many staff editorial cartoonists have their work appear both in print and online, and an increasing number do blogs for their newspapers' sites. One AAEC attendee did note privately after the session that a downside to blogging is the extra work for already busy editorial cartoonists.

If advertising on Web sites would grow as quickly as Web audiences are growing, editorial cartoonists could at least theoretically earn something for their online efforts. Clark said most Web revenue comes from ads, but panelist Scott Shorter of uClick.com -- a sister division to Universal Press Syndicate -- said paid subscriptions can also generate revenue.

"We have about 40,000 people who pay $1 a month for cartoons and games," said Shorter, who did add that this is a small portion of uClick's audience.

Creating content for online use has its advantages, said several speakers. "The Web is a much freer speech zone," observed Temple. Saltz added: "DenverPost.com can use slang that can't be used in the print paper. But you still can't use vulgar language or be libelous."

Clark noted that comments sent to bloggers on Chron.com and other sites tend to be more casual than letters to the editor sent to the print editions of newspapers. And comments sent to bloggers have a much better chance of appearing than print letters.

"If Nick Anderson gets 20 comments about a cartoon, all 20 are posted," said Clark, referring to Anderson's blog (one of the five most read of Chron.com's 60-plus blogs). "But if the newspaper received 20 letters to the editor about a cartoon, maybe two would be printed."

Another cartoonist with a blog is sports artist Drew Litton of the Rocky Mountain News. And Temple said News editorial cartoonist Ed Stein will launch a blog sometime after the AAEC convention, which Stein is co-hosting with The Denver Post's Mike Keefe.

The Internet session was moderated by AAEC President-Elect Rob Rogers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and United Media.