Is It 264 or Just 1 Newspaper Cutting Editorial Cartoons? – Update
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An update that The Bend Bulletin is once again publishing editorial cartoons – see following the original post.
Original March 19, 2026 report:
It is through a letter writer to the Bend (Oregon) Bulletin (or here) that we learn the paper has discontinued publishing editorial cartoons:
I was disappointed to learn that the paper has discontinued editorial cartoons in response to reader complaints. While it is understandable that some cartoons may provoke disagreement, that has always been part of their purpose. Editorial cartoons compress complicated political debates into a single image — often clarifying an issue more quickly than a column can. Removing them risks losing one of the most accessible forms of political commentary.
After name checking Steve Bell, Michael Ramirez, Kevin Siers, and Ann Telnaes the letter writer continues:
Editorial cartoons are not meant to comfort everyone. They are meant to provoke thought, highlight hypocrisy, and sometimes puncture the pretensions of those in power. That tradition remains valuable precisely because it can reach readers quickly and memorably.
A newspaper’s opinion page should welcome a diversity of viewpoints and forms of expression. Eliminating cartoons because some readers object to them risks narrowing that conversation rather than enriching it.
The Bend Bulletin had been selecting cartoons from the Tribune Content Agency – the last ones were by Nick Anderson, Bill Bramhall, Phil Hands, David Horsey, Jack Ohman, Joel Pett, Drew Sheneman, and Joey Weatherford. The last edition that carried an editorial cartoon was the February 22, 2026 issue. I can find no mention of the paper discontinuing political carts though there is no doubt they have.
At least one other former EO Media Group paper, The East Oregonian, continues to run editorial cartoons. In late 2024 the EO Media Group was bought by the Carpenter Media Group, a bad omen according to that linked Columbia Journalism Review article from early this year. I tried checking out a few of Carpenter’s 264 papers for editorial cartoons in any of them and came up empty (they all seem to be behind paywalls).
So I wonder if this is the beginning of the former EO Media Group papers ridding themselves of editoons?
An aside: earlier this year The Longview News-Journal, a paper the Carpenter Media Group purchased in December 2024, cut their Sunday color comics supplement (second item).
Update April 12, 2026:
From a Bend Bulletin reader dated April 12, 2026 (name withheld on request):
The Cartoons Are Back!
Concerning your March 19 post titled “Is It 264 or Just 1 Newspaper Cutting Editorial Cartoons?” on the disappearance of the political cartoons from the editorial page of the Bend (OR) Bulletin, I wanted to let you know the cartoons have reappeared, at least for the time being. And I am very happy they’re back.
I like to think that your article had something to do with this recent turn of events. Whether that is the case or not, I wanted to express my appreciation for you highlighting the issue when the cartoons first stopped being published.
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