Editorial Cartoonists Plan 'Black Ink Monday' to Protest Job Losses

By: Dave Astor Editorial cartoonists are joining together for a "Black Ink Monday" protest, E&P has learned. On Dec. 12, these artists will draw cartoons criticizing the newspaper industry -- and particularly the Tribune Co. -- for reducing the number of editorial cartooning jobs.

Comic cartoonists have cooperated to do "theme days" on rare occasions. But this may be a first for editorial cartoonists, said J.P. Trostle, news editor of Editorial Cartoonists.com -- the Web site of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.

The site will publish the Dec. 12 cartoons criticizing the job losses. The AAEC also hopes newspapers will publish the cartoons and syndicates will distribute them.

Trostle told E&P that he does not yet know how many cartoonists will participate. The AAEC has more than 300 members, with perhaps a third of them affiliated with daily newspapers and/or major syndicates.

He added that some cartoonists may do a protest cartoon just for the AAEC site (the drawings are due Friday) and then create their usual cartoon for Dec. 12. Others may make their one and only Dec. 12 cartoon the protest one. Trostle said it remains to be seen if any newspapers will balk at running these protest drawings.

Among the reasons for the protest: "The Tribune Co.'s attitude has just flummoxed us," said Trostle, referring to all the cartoonist jobs lost or unfilled at that chain's newspapers.

Kevin "KAL" Kallaugher just accepted a buyout at The Sun of Baltimore, where Mike Lane also took a buyout in July 2004. The Sun said it doesn't plan to replace "KAL" in the foreseeable future. Also, the Los Angeles Times announced last month that it was laying off Michael Ramirez at the end of 2005 and eliminating the position. And the Chicago Tribune never replaced Jeff MacNelly after he died in 2000.

A statement about "Black Ink Monday" was posted Monday afternoon at EditorialCartoonists.com. Those signing it, in addition to Trostle, were AAEC President Clay Bennett, AAEC President-Elect Rob Rogers, and former AAEC President Bruce Plante.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning Bennett is with The Christian Science Monitor and Christian Science Monitor News Service, Rogers is with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and United Media, and the self-syndicated Plante is with the Chattanooga (Tenn.) Times Free Press.