Daryl Cagle, MSNBC editorial cartoonist and Cagle Cartoons founder, has a bone to pick with the L.A. Times. When comparing the Times with the L.A. Daily News, he prefers the News because it staffs an editorial cartoonist (Patrick O’Connor) and runs more cartoons on the editorial page per week than the Times.
It probably doesn’t also help to note that they tend to run his syndicate’s offerings more as well.
Daryl has always been a great advocate for editorial cartoonists–when he speaks, I listen. His blog is great, too–he really works at illuminating the issues behind the scenes. Despite the seeming conflict of interest that Alan alludes to, it’s hard to argue with Daryl’s premise.
I wouldn’t call it a “conflict of interest.” I only mention the connect because he did.
That doesn’t really seem like all that harsh criticism and is barely noteworthy that he wrote about it. It sounds like he simply is pointing out what they already know and probably don’t plan to change. I guess you can always try.
I’m always fine about pointing out to papers like the L.A. Times that the competition has an advantage over them by supporting an editorial cartoonist who can hold local politicians’ feet to the fire. Having said that, I’m aware that Patrick O’Connor barely survived the last round of cuts from Dean Singleton’s newspaper empire (Gordon Campbell, 30 miles east, did not).