CSotD: Images in the fading light
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One of the advantages of being on Facebook and Twitter is that political cartoonists often post their work as they turn it in, which is particularly important if they are relying on their paper or syndicate to post it online. It's not unusual to see a cartoon 48 hours later simply, I assume, for a lack of priority in some backshop.
On the other hand, it made it apparent yesterday that a lot of cartoonists were commenting on a SOTU speech that had not yet occurred. I understand deadlines, but I also know that Bill Mauldin produced his famous "Lincoln Grieving For JFK" cartoon in time for the Sun-Times extra that hit the stands that same afternoon.
However, I'm aware that the papers holding a spot on One for speech coverage probably won't hold a spot on the editorial page for a cartoon, despite the fact that, unless your eddy page is in a different section, a uniformly sized cartoon could be dropped in before the page is plated and the A-section put on the press.
I wasn't going to feature any of them, since their evergreen vagueness didn't advance things.
And then Gary Varvel made me giggle. So here's his.
Besides, it's a lovely segue into this …
Trifecta Journalistic Juxtaposition of the Day
Start with Red & Rover, which reminded me that the strip is set in the nostalgic past.
First off, nearly all papers have switched away from youth carriers to adult drivers.
Now add the fact that you couldn't throw one of today's "Fun-Size" newspapers more than four feet unless you put a rock in the bag with it.
For my part, I'd be ashamed to be selling a pamphlet for the same price I used to charge for a doorstop.
And moreso to be selling on-line access for the same price I'd charge if I had to pay for plates, paper, pressmen and a carrier to drop it in your driveway.
But here's the worst part: I have to fault Brian Basset's memory because leading the Nightly News with that kind of trivial fluff is, as re-enactors say, out of period. Back in the days of real newspapers, the TV networks featured real news, too, and a report on Presidential paper-tossing would have been the closing "bright," not the lead story.
Plenty of shame to go around over that change from the Good Old Days.
And the drive to be more like social media leads us to the Dogs of C-Kennel and the annoying pop-over ads that can only be shut down after a certain period and, worse, that autoplay a video.
And, if that isn't annoying enough, the sites that, when they don't have a paid ad to obstruct your vision, will insert a self-promotion in its place.
With a special annoy-the-readers award to Daily Kos, which has a "Daily Kos Action" pop-up begging you to sign yet another petition, the funny thing being that, if you refresh the page, you find a different "Daily Kos Action." Not sure what they think the word "daily" means.
It's not only dishonest, but it's kind of loony-creepy. I'd rather deal with an Old Navy ad than find the political equivalent of a Jehovah's Witness on my front porch every time I opened the door.
Though I guess it's probably better than being on the receiving end of all the heartfelt spam they must generate. I found Lazlo Toth a whole lot more amusing before I was put in the position of having to politely deal with the sincere-but-deranged public.
Finally, if you need more reasons to bemoan the industry and would like to at least chuckle over it, Editor & Publisher has a slide show of Rob Tornoe's cartoons, from which I selected this one because, although he is, after all, Superman, Clark would fry his keyboard if he tried to meet the demands to be just like the Internet and also attempted to do responsible journalism.
The first part, not the second, is the standard assignment, in an industry led by doofi who can total up your tweets and blog postings and Instagrams to see if you've hit your quota, but can't tell a well-researched news story from thrown-together nitwittery.
"And they vote!" is depressing.
Try not to think about "And people vote, based on this!"
Kids just want to be cool
Rhymes With Orange touches on a parenting issue or a gender issue or some weirdness, because, yes, I see guys — and not just junior high guys — going around in faux-satin basketball shorts when it's well below freezing. And it's not just the exposed leg itself, mind you, but there's a loose-fit wind-chill factor as well.
I don't think I'm being Andy Rooney when I don't get it. It's one thing to brave the trip from home to bus without a coat because you don't have room in your locker for it, but … well, okay, the Andy Rooney take is that at least they pull their shorts up. Or that at least the saggy-pants crowd has a coat over their exposed flesh.
Pick your favorite.
I'm also enough of an old fart to imagine their grandmothers shaking their heads, remembering when they were required to wear skirts to school, and how they finally persuaded administrators to let them dress appropriately for the weather.
Except for the grandmothers who fought with the administrators over their right to wear miniskirts year-round.
*sigh*
Okay, yes, I've gone full-Andy.
Interactivity I support:
It's the most wonderful time of the year: Tank McNamara's Sports Jerk of the Year competition.
Complete explanation and voting instructions here.
Correction:
I'm deeply embarrassed to say that I misattributed yesterday's David Bowie cartoon, ironically in a posting that also discussed copyright. The artist inaccurately cited contacted me to say he was only passing it along and didn't know the source. I subsequently found the original — by Jen Lewis — here, along with other very nice tributes to the cuts on the Aladdin Sane album. Apologies to her and to you.
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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