Beware the Jabberwock

“We’ve noticed over the years that editors have become more and more timid and rejecting printing cartoons that express opinions — because we collect stats on each of the cartoons and we can compare the usages between different cartoons,” Cagle explained during TheWrap’s “Conversations on Cancel Culture” series focusing on journalism.


© Bruce Plante (2016)

The Wrap’s Johnny Yee writes about Daryl Cagle‘s segment of Conversations on Cancel Culture.

[Cagle] continued: “There used to be a general consensus that because most newspapers are in rural and suburban areas tend to be conservative, that conservative cartoonists would be reprinted more. And we would see that in the newspapers; the conservative papers would run conservative cartoons and the liberal newspapers would run both left and right. It was a pretty stark difference.”

“We’ve noticed that difference disappear,” he explained. “Both the liberal and the conservative papers are printing the same cartoons, which are cute little asides on topical subjects that don’t express an opinion.”

That timidity continues as can be seen with The Cagle Top Ten of the Week.

Watch Daryl’s segment (at minutes 10 – 20) of the Conversation,
and another short segment at the 37 minute mark.


© Gary McCoy (2021)

 

Speaking of Woke…


© Beano Studios Limited

Above are the Bash Street Kids, among them Fatty Freddy.

Fatty reverts to Freddy, his real name (who knew?), for fear of causing offence in what is the most obese country in Western Europe. Now, it pains me to say this, but none of us dealing in the printed word – be it in speech-bubble form with lots of exclamation marks or the more sober style of The Scotsman – has the power and influence we once did.

Aiden Smith, at The Scotsman, is not happy.

But for the first time in my life I find myself agreeing with Lord Snooty, Leader of the House of Commons – sorry, I mean Jacob Rees-Mogg – who says of the nickname-nixing: “I expect this is just publicity-seeking… otherwise it is comically woke.”

Juxtapositionally, the same time I read about Fa… uh, Freddy,
I see these Clay Jones and Phil Hands cartoons.

 
© Clay Jones (left) and Phil Hands (right)

 

 

 

 

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