Comic Strip of the Day

CSotD: Friday Classic — Non Sequitur, June 29, 1993

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Mike Peterson Published: March 5, 2010 1 minute 0 comments

Everyone seemed to be wrapping up story arcs or just in a slump today, but here's a Non Sequitur from 1993 that has been at the top of my list since it appeared. I realized even then that Wiley Miller was being sarcastic, but I always liked the shifting nature of reporting at a small newspaper. You really did have to be a quick study and mobile enough to leap into a new topic on a moment's notice. However, that's not what he was talking about and, 17 years later, as newsrooms cut staff and increase demands, his view of the reporter as dabbling incompetent is starting to win me over. The help wanted ads are comical in their listing of what you need to be able to do: Not just report but also blog, shoot and upload video … about everything but run the press and deliver the papers. All for a salary guaranteed to keep you in cheap khakis and bad shoes while you do it. And, since there are fewer of you in the newsroom, you need to maybe throw two or three of those darts each day.

It occurs to me that, given that Non Sequitur just turned 18 last month, this was a pretty early example. You can find a collection in the sidebar.