Right Turn Into Syndication

By: Dave Astor Three conservatives in the liberal-leaning field of editorial cartooning have formed Rightoons.com.

"We wanted to band together and offer a no-apologies conservative alternative," said Colin Hayes, 35, who pens a satirical political strip called "The Leftersons." The other partners are editorial cartoonists Bob Lang, 48, and Paul Nowak, 42.

In a survey last year, E&P Online found approximately 35 conservative and 30 liberal columnists at the eight biggest syndicates (Syndicate World, April 1). But liberal editorial cartoonists outnumber conservative ones. For instance, two distributors -- Tribune Media Services and Universal Press Syndicate -- listing editorial cartoonists by ideology have a combined total of 19 liberal and six conservative creators on their rosters.

Hayes isn't sure why this is, but did guess that "most artistically inclined people tend to be more liberal. ... I also believe that a majority of opinion-page editors of large newspapers tend to be liberal and prefer their cartoonists -- either on staff or pulled down through the syndicates -- to be the same. The viewpoints of the cartoonist may be slightly skewed in certain instances to fit the desires of the editors."

He would like the new syndicate to help change this equation, noting: "We hope Rightoons.com can replicate the success that conservative columnists and talk-radio hosts have had."

In this digital age, the three cartoonists are able to participate in the syndicate despite their different locales. Lang is in northeastern Indiana, Nowak in the Las Vegas area, and Hayes in Everett, Wash.

All three have done work for print outlets, and they currently appear on the Web at sites such as the conservative Cybercast News Service (http://www.CNSNews.com). They're hoping many Rightoons.com clients will be newspapers, but they also plan to sell to other print and online clients.

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'IHT' Ex-Editor Syndicated by WPWG

Ignatius' Column Covers International Affairs

David Ignatius, former executive editor of the International Herald Tribune, is being syndicated by the Washington Post Writers Group.

Ignatius covers international affairs in his twice-weekly column, which began in The Washington Post in 1999 and was originally distributed by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service. He continued the column on a weekly basis after joining the IHT in 2000.

The Post recently sold its interest in the Paris-based newspaper.

Prior to becoming a columnist, Ignatius served in various editor positions for the Post from 1986 on. Before that, he spent 10 years as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. And Ignatius is the author of five novels.

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Et cetera ...

Jim Miller, who started self-syndicating "Savvy Senior" about 10 months ago, says he now has more than 400 daily and other clients. How, E&P Online asked, did he find so many newspapers for his weekly Q-and-A column? The 39-year-old Miller (http://www.savvysenior.org) attributed it to contacting a huge number of papers, charging no more than $5 a column to even the biggest clients, and doing a feature that offers information to a large readership segment. ...

United Feature Syndicate is distributing Mary Mitchell's Chicago Sun-Times column. She focuses on race, family, and other political, social, and personal topics. Mitchell is a former president of the Chicago Association of Black Journalists. ...

The New York Times Syndicate (NYTS) is offering a weekly column discussing globalization and related topics. It's by Naomi Klein, the author and political activist who regularly contributes to The Globe and Mail in Toronto and The Guardian in London. ...

In James Patterson's current best seller Four Blind Mice, a character tapes images from Aaron McGruder's "Boondocks" comic on a refrigerator. But the Universal Press Syndicate cartoonist's name was misspelled as "McGurder." ...

Creators Syndicate columnist Norman Solomon co-authored, with Reese Erlich, Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You (Context Books). ...

King Features Syndicare editorial cartoonist Scott Bateman (http://www.batemania.com) published his first graphic novel. Scan uses 60 characters, art, charts, graphs, lists, and more to tell the story of a town facing a mysterious epidemic of graffiti. The 144-page book has a companion CD with 17 songs composed and performed by Bateman. ...

"In the Bleachers" humor cartoonist Steve Moore of Universal made a deal with Sony Pictures Animation for a proposed project about hunters being hunted. ...

AccuWeather.com introduced "AccuPOP," which gives the probability of precipitation in three-hour increments covering 96 hours in the future. ...

A weekly column called "Fave Foods of the Famous" (http://www.favefoods.com) is being offered by Steven Austin and Geoff Vaughn. Among those interviewed are Denise Austin, Sarah Ferguson, B.B. King, and William Shatner. Clients include The Commercial Appeal of Memphis, Tenn., and The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Miss. Austin formerly wrote the "Straight Up with Steven the Bartender" column. ...

Scripps Howard News Service is distributing "joyride," a column aimed at Gen X and Gen Y readers by Joe Donatelli (http://www.joedonatelli.com). ...

NYTS is distributing the "National Geographic News Service," which includes three stories per week with art. ...

Newspaper Enterprise Association is syndicating "Everyday Cheapskate," a five-times-a-week household tips feature by author and entrepreneur Mary Hunt. ...

Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services is offering a fitness and exercise column by Michael Klepper, a strength/conditioning specialist and nutritionist who writes for The Miami Herald. It's also distributing a humorous travel column by Coastal Living magazine writer Paige Porter, and added to its KRT South package conservative columnist Bronwyn Lance Chester of The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk. ...

KRT News Service Managing Editor Fred Povey is overseeing the new KRT International. Special Sections Managing Editor Debra Leithauser will oversee KRT Campus. ...

Religion News Service has begun redistributing content submitted by its clients. It also launched "Religion Press Release Services," which distributes releases and advisories to clients and readers. ...

Mildred Culp's "WorkWise" column is being syndicated internationally by Globalvision News Network. ...

A cartoon panel offering household hints and more is being syndicated by Creative Comic Productions (http://www.creativecomics.net). "Tip to Try" is by Ken Alvine and Dave Carpenter. ...

A weekly column called "CareerBuzz" is being offered by Jason Rich (http://www.JasonRich.com). ...

Santiago Cornejo ("Corne") is offering his "one-page cartoons" (http://www.corne.com.ar/OnePageCartoons1.html). ...

The "Kid Tips" parenting column by Tom McMahon of King turned 10. ...

"Help Me, Harlan!" advice columnist Harlan Cohen of King has declared the week surrounding Valentine's Day (Feb. 9-15) "Rejection Awareness Week." One of the ways Cohen will mark that week is to run readers' stories about risking rejection before they found love. ...

NYTS negotiated an agreement for the Harvard Business Review to publish a Portuguese edition serving the Brazilian market and a Spanish edition that will be distributed in Mexico, Central America, and Latin America. ...

Featurewell.com signed syndication deals with Canada's This and Shift magazines. ...

Retired Albany (N.Y.) Times Union metro columnist Dan Lynch has a new book collection called Hustlers, Heroes, and Hooligans: Reporting on the New York Experience (Whitston Publishing). Lynch's work was distributed by the New York Times News Service. ...

An exhibit of Arnold Roth's work will be at the Society of Illustrators in New York until Feb. 1 before moving to London, England; and Basel, Switzerland. The show was previously in Philadelphia; Columbus, Ohio; and San Francisco. During his 50-year career, Roth has done cartoons, illustrations, and syndicated comic panels. ...

A free screensaver with 18 quotes from columnist Erma Bombeck is being offered (http://www.humorwriters.org). ...

Entertainment News Syndicate (http://www.entertainmentnewssyndicate.com) moved to the Murray Hill section of New York City. ...

Pete Murphey, who formerly did the "Hippy and Pop" comic for King, has a new Web site at http://www.geocities.com/hippyandpop/index.html.

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