The Times is arguably the most well-known and prestigious newspaper in the United States. It should be championing and supporting the work of the industry’s top professionals in all facets of journalism—reporters, columnists, feature writers, editorialists, and—yes . . . cartoonists. An initiative like this does the opposite. It contributes to the devaluation of the work of editorial cartoonists not just in the offer of extremely low pay and the submission of finished work without the expectation of ANY pay, but in the very nature of editorial cartoons as an individual voice of real opinion. Editorial cartoonists are visual columnists who have specific voices, and “competitions” like this discourage that individuality while encouraging the pursuit and of whatever joke might give the jury the biggest chuckle of the week. To stage such a competition among an amateur public would be one thing, to ask a specific group of well-established and professional editorial cartoonists to do it is quite another. That is a slap in the face to their work and profession.

While I applaud your desire to once again feature individual editorial cartoons in the Times, I sincerely hope you will rethink this approach. It would behoove the Times to conduct a search among the countries best editorial cartoonists for one that has a voice that is in keeping with the editorial position of your newspaper, and then commission them to produce a weekly cartoon for which they are paid a living wage for exclusive rights. Such a change would support the profession of cartooning and journalism, and be in keeping with the reputation of the New York Times as one of the world’s leading newspapers.

Read the whole thing over at Tom’s blog.

Ted Rall wrote an open letter response (see below) which has now been adopted and signed by 57 other cartoonists which include six Pulitzer Prize winners.

Ms. Aviva Michaelov
Art Direction, Graphic and Web Design
The Sunday Review
New York Times
620 Eighth Avenue
New York NY 10018

Dear Aviva:

While we appreciate and applaud your move to add more cartoons to the Sunday Review, we are concerned about your announced submission (no pun intended) policy and payment.

The current proposal has the effect of putting scores of cartoonists to work every week. But only one will have a (small) chance to be published. Like an old-fashioned “shape up” of longshoremen, this is demoralizing and will likely lead to a diminished number and quality of submissions over time. This works neither for the cartoonists nor for The Times. We suggest that you either commission cartoonists whose work you like directly, or return to the previous approach of running syndicated material which do not require additional work on the part of editorial cartoonists who are struggling mightily in the current economic environment.

Furthermore, the proposed payment is extremely low given the low chances of publication, the requirement that an artist clear his or her Friday schedule, and–most of all–the huge circulation of The New York Times, the largest newspaper in the United States. Although The New York Times in the past has paid only $50 for a reprint of syndicated cartoons, the market standard for a reprint for a newspaper of your size is $250. You are offering this $250 now for original content. An original cartoon for The Times should pay closer to $1500 to $2000. And the rate should be even higher if you maintain the New Yorker-style submission policy, to which many cartoonists have long objected and boycotted.

It is not necessary to reinvent the wheel here. There are long-established norms for submission and payment for cartoons in the newspaper industry that have functioned well and would work well for you going forward. We hope you will consider them.

Signed February 9, 2012 by the following cartoonists:

Kirk Anderson
Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle*
Robert Ariail, Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, SC)
Steve Artley
John Auchter, MLive Media Group
Pat Bagley, Salt Lake City Tribune
Richard Bartholomew, Artizans Syndicate
Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner
Charles Beyl, Sunday News (Lancaster, PA)
John Branch, North America Syndicate
Steve Breen, San Diego Union-Tribune*
Daryl Cagle, msnbc.com
Tim Campbell, Current Publishing
Cameron Cardow (CAM), Ottawa Citizen
J.D. Crowe, Mobile (AL) Press-Register
Matt Davies, Tribune Media Services*
John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Brian Duffy, King Features Syndicate
Tim Eagan, Deep Cover
Bob Englehart, Hartford Courant
Paul Fell
David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Daily Star
Garrincha, El Nuevo Herald
Bob Gorrell, Creators Syndicate
Phil Hands, Wisconsin State Journal
Roger Harvell
Joe Heller, Green Bay (WI) Press-Gazette
Jack Higgins, Chicago Sun-Times
Keith Knight, The K Chronicles/The Knight Life
Jeff Koterba, Omaha World-Herald
Jay Lamm, The Franklin Times
Chan Lowe, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Jimmy Margulies, The Record (NJ)
R.J. Matson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Rick McKee, Augusta Chronicle (GA)
Stephanie McMillan, Universal Press Syndicate
Mike Keefe, Denver Post*
Angelo Lopez, Philippines Today
Jim Morin, Miami Herald
Jack Ohman, The Oregonian
Jeff Parker, Florida Today
Joel Pett, Lexington Herald-Leader*
Mike Peters, Dayton Daily News*
Milt Priggee
Ted Rall, Universal Press Syndicate
Rob Rogers, Pittburgh Post-Gazette
V. C. Rogers, The Independent Weekly (Durham, NC)
Marshall Ramsey, Jackson (MS) Clarion-Ledger
Jen Sorensen, Slowpoke
Scott Stantis, Chicago Tribune
Ed Stein
Tom Stiglich, Journal-Register Newspapers
Dana Summers, Orlando Sentinel
Dan Wasserman, Boston Globe
Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News*
Karl Wimer, Denver Business Journal
Matt Wuerker, The Politico
Adam Zyglis, Buffalo News

*Asterisk indicates winner of the Pulitzer Prize in editorial cartooning

Blaine was anything but bland. He had a black belt in karate, played guitar and sang, liked wearing cowboy boots and jewellery and was remembered for driving motorcycles and a Corvette Stingray monogrammed with a drawing of a butterfly on the hood.
…
But that wasn’t the only thing he won during his life. For his editorial cartooning, Blaine received National Newspaper Awards, a Reuben Award and a Salon of Cartoons Grand Prize. Blaine created a national profile for himself and the paper through the syndication of his work.

According to Romenesko Ted Rall penned the response that was signed by most of the cartoonists approached.

The current proposal has the effect of putting scores of cartoonists to work every week. But only one will have a (small) chance to be published. Like an old-fashioned “shape up” of longshoremen, this is demoralizing and will likely lead to a diminished number and quality of submissions over time. This works neither for we cartoonists nor for The Times. We suggest that you either commission cartoonists whose work you like directly, or return to the previous approach of running syndicated material which do not require additional work on the part of editorial cartoonists who are struggling mightily in the current economic environment.

Furthermore, the proposed payment is extremely low given the low chances of publication, the requirement that an artist clear his or her Friday schedule, and-most of all-the huge circulation of The New York Times, the largest newspaper in the United States. The market standard for a reprint for a newspaper of your size is $250-not for original content. An original cartoon for The Times should pay closer to $1500 to $2000. And the rate should be even higher if you maintain the New Yorker-style submission policy, to which many cartoonists have long objected and boycotted.

CLARIFICATION: I’ve received an email from a reader who informs me that the response penned by Ted, quoted above, is not an official response by the AAEC or by editorial cartoonists en mass. Apologies to anyone who interpreted as such.

Mike writes:

If someone puts one of my cartoons on their Facebook page or on a chat board without asking, then that is OK with me. It’s the equivalent of taping a cartoon up in your break room or inside your locker.

But when a company or individual takes my images without asking for their own business purposes, that’s not fair use.

On the UP WITH CHRIS HAYES show, Chris is paid, the guests are paid, the people who run the cameras, light the set, direct the show are all paid. All of the content you see is compensated … except, this past Sunday, for the cartoonist.

Hopefully someone with the UP WITH CHRIS HAYES show can be contacted and Lian can be compensated for the use of her work.

UPDATE: Chris Hayes has responded to Tweets by Mike and Tom Tomorrow stating that they did credit Lian.

They contacted KAL for confirmation:

“I have been in discussions with The Sun,” he wrote. “If all goes well, I would be starting [in] late February.” Kallaugher said the deal is still “not inked,” but declined to elaborate. Sources close to the discussion at 501 N. Calvert St. said the final decision rests with the Sun’s corporate parent, Chicago-based Tribune Co.

KAL was the staff editorial cartoonist for 17 years but took a buy-out in 2005 when his job appeared to be on the cutting block. Life after the Sun has been busy for KAL. He became the Artist-in-residence at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and started an animation company to produce his Digital Dubya character – an animated caricature of former US President George W. Bush.

From the Star-Ledger:

The main reason Nast went after the Irish, Smith said, was that they were the main supporters of New York City’s Tammany Hall political machine. And he noted that it would be hard to argue that Nast hated the Irish for having spent 20 years in Morristown, sometimes known then as “Little Dublin.”

Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Mercer), who protested the nomination, said he’s glad Nast is out. “I would think after three times … you should be excluded from it,” he said. “I don’t know what their policy is.”

“I was just informed,” Britt said.

Britt, who began his career as an editorial cartoonist in 1990 and joined the State Journal-Register staff nine years later, said he wasn’t sure whether he was given a reason for his firing.

“They may have – I was just in a little bit of a daze,” Britt said. “Economic re-structuring, or something like that.”

The Times reports that the paper’s parent company owes $1 billion to creditors. Eleven people were reportedly laid off.

Chris is syndicated through Creators Syndicate.

From the Herald Sun:

But he believes the honour recognises all of Australia’s cartoonists for their efforts in shaping the political and news landscape of Australia.

“It’s a tribute to the influence that cartoonists have on our population,” he said.

Sometimes my cartoons give me a sense of accomplishment,” he said. “But what I really want is to wake up my fellow countrymen by injecting a sense of civil society in their minds. China will change one day and I hope my work will help reduce the number of brainwashed citizens in the meantime.