'Doonesbury' Strip Crashes 'Union Leader' Web Site

By: Dave Astor The Union Leader's Web site crashed this morning after Garry Trudeau put its URL in today's "Doonesbury."

"We're pleased that Mr. Trudeau mentioned our site," said Charles Perkins III, vice president, editorial and executive editor of the Manchester, N.H., newspaper. "Unfortunately, we weren't given any advance notice, and the site crashed. That defeated Mr. Trudeau's purpose."

The piece Trudeau wanted readers to see was a guest commentary by John Eisenhower, son of the former Republican president, supporting Democratic Senator John Kerry over George W. Bush.

Perkins told E&P that if the Union Leader knew beforehand that "Doonesbury" would print the URL, the paper could have taken measures such as putting Eisenhower's commentary on a quicker-loading Web page.

Kathie Kerr, director of communications for Universal Press Syndicate, said: "We do apologize and will call The Union Leader to apologize. We just didn't anticipate it would be a problem but obviously it has been."

She added that Trudeau will mention other URLs in his Tuesday through Saturday strips this week. Universal gave all those URLs advance warning today after the syndicate learned that the Union Leader site had gone down.

Perkins said the site crashed at about 8 a.m. He wasn't sure when it came back up, but Eisenhower's piece was accessible this afternoon.

In today's strip, a "Doonesbury" character says: "Hi, folks! As the election approaches, busy undecideds are wondering...." An undecided voter at a computer is shown thinking, "Where can I get a fair and balanced critique of the Bush record?" Then the "Doonesbury" character continues: "Well, look no further than our 'Honest Voices Reading List.' A roundup of indispensable writings from conservative sources. First up -- an overview of how well Bush has served Republican principles by Dwight Eisenhower's son." Then the URL is given.

Update: Jim Romenesko reports on his Poynter Institute Web site that tomorrow's "Doonesbury" will give the URL for Romenesko's post of Wall Street Journal reporter Farnaz Fassihi's e-mail from Iraq.