By: E&P Staff Some News & Observer readers are puzzled about why the liberal "Doonesbury" is on the Raleigh, N.C., paper's editorial page while the conservative "Mallard Fillmore" gets to run with other comics.
Public Editor Ted Vaden responded in a Sunday column: "One reason for the inconsistent treatment of the politically flavored comics is the newspaper's internal setup. The opinion pages, including 'Doonesbury,' are the province of the editorial page editor. The comics pages, including 'Mallard,' are under the executive editor."
He added: "Myself, I used to come down on the side of 'Doonesbury' in comics. But I've changed my mind. Here's why: 'Doonesbury' is a manifestly better strip [that] deals not only with politics but also with controversial topics -- homosexuality, drug use, out-of-wedlock sex -- that, you could argue, don't belong on the comics pages. [And] 'Doonesbury would have to be reduced in size to fit on the comics page...."
Garry Trudeau creates "Doonesbury" for Universal Press Syndicate, while Bruce Tinsley does "Mallard Fillmore" for King Features Syndicate.
Vaden's entire piece can be seen
here.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here