Filed under: Controversies

With the release of Ann Coulter’s new book, she’s generated a lot of press and controversy over some of the things she has written – and a few are questioning the reaction from the public who’s knickers were in a complete twist when ultra-liberal Ted Rall made some of the same points earlier….  Editor and Publisher writers Dave Astor and Greg Mitchell have asked Universal Press if any newspapers have cancelled their subscriptions to Coulter to which they replied no.Is there an example of a media bias or the power of imagery over words?

While some Muslims do not make or show images of Mohammed because of the biblical laws against graven images, there is a long history of portraits of Muhammad in Islamic art. …… Perhaps because not talking about it gives them a convenient rationalization — religious tolerance — for not showing the offending Danish cartoons.

Signe Wilkinson, editorial cartoonist for the Philadelphia Daily News, was one of the most vocal American cartoonist earlier this year during the Danish/Mohammad cartoon riots.  The debate is still raging and Signe is still the go to person for comments and reaction.Over at Islam Online there is a Point/Counter-Point wherein Signe takes on Felicity Arbuthnot a British journalist and activist on the topic of whether there should be limits on freedom of expression when it comes to the sacred in religions.

In summation, he accuses most cartoonists as failures and the reason why cartooning will never be considered a legitimate art form.The basic nobility of that cause innoculates (for the most part) cartooning against the accusations that it is a vocation filled with practitioners (98% male and white) who couldn’t draw their way out of a paper bag if their life (or their profession) counted on it.Imagine turning on the Olympics and seeing 78% of the figure skaters fall on their asses…. Individual cartoonists deserve respect, but just because they earn it doesn’t mean a positive residue should trickle down upon anyone who puts nib to paper, had a cartoon published in the Anchorage Antler and manages to squeeze into a tux for the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards.For cartoonists to believe that respect would be a given when the vast majority of them would fail to push any aesthetic envelope or embrace even a modicum of visual experimentation is as audacious as it is self-delusional.

The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists has posted the schedule and agenda of their annual conference that will be held this June 7-10 in Denver.  The Danish cartoon will dominate two sessions and will also include two national figures: U.S. Sen. Gary Hart (D-Col., 1974-86) and National Public Radio’s Scott Simon.Visit the AAEC for more details.Hat tip to E&P for pointing out the schedule.

After the LA Times ran a story quoting comic strip heavy weights Berkeley Breathed, Wiley Miller questioning the future of the American Comics page, the discussion has been spreadign to other publications.Today on CNN.com, they have a story called “Who reads the comics anymore?”…  On the one hand they want younger readers which would require hip-per, edgier features like “Pearls Before Swine” and “Get Fuzzy,” but such features are lost on the older generation that is the bread and butter of the newspaper subscriptions.From Tom Daning, managing editor for United Media:”They’re looking for something new and edgy, but many of their readers are over 35,” he says.

Sacramento Bee’s Rex Babin will be a panelist on a discussion of the now infamous Muhammad cartoon. Other panelists include journalists, lawyers and members of clergy. The event happens on April 24 on the campus of Reynolds School of Journalism. The panel of journalists, lawyers and clergy will discuss the ethics of publishing potentially offensive […]

Every year when the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning is announced, there is a small teacup sized tempest the ensues. Earlier protests included the claim that the Pulitzer is awarded to only “liberal” editorial cartoonists and that conservatives need not apply. If you were wondering what the the fuss would be this year – head […]

Editor and Publisher has the story that many of the winners of this year’s Pulitzer Prize were tipped off early. Mike Luckovich was told the day before.Mike Luckovich, editorial cartoonist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and winner of his second Pulitzer this week, said he was tipped off on Sunday. “I knew I was going to […]

There’s an interesting article in the Journal Gazette, (Ft. Wayne) about the new hip-hop generation, their message, and their impact in the African American community. The article cites Aaron McGruder’s Boondocks television show and some of the language used to make political statements. But some worry that members of the hip-hop generation are delivering their […]

To what extent are newspapers supposed to edit or fact check the content of comic strips? That’s the topic a column by Manning Pynn, the Public Editor at the Orlando Sentinel, who recently had to deal with a reader who questioned the factuality of a Mallard Fillmore strip regarding taxes. The tax question involved was […]

This story out of the Columbus Dispatch interviews several editors asking if the strips in the funny pages are becoming increasingly more risque. “I have seen . . . a decided tilt toward the outrageous ? risque images and language, name-calling disguised as political satire, oodles of toilet humor and several attempts to slip in […]

Slightly off topic – but Marvel and DC comics are demanding that they joint-own the word “super-hero.”Marvel Comics is continuing in its bid to steal the word “super-hero” from the public domain and put it in a lock-box to which it will control the key. Marvel and DC comics jointly filed a trademark on the […]

There have been over 700 entries into the Iranian Holocaust cartoon contest – six of the entrants are Americans (and no, Ann Coulter, Ted Rall isn’t one of them).One of the American cartoonists is Mike Flugennock. Flugennock, of Washington, D.C., insisted his entry is not anti-Semitic but legitimate political criticism – because it criticizes not […]

While no official lawsuit has been filed, Ted has stopped his pledge drive to raise money for this libel/slander suit against Ann Coulter saying that he now has enough. The proposed libel/slander suit is the result of comments she made that Ted had entered the Iranian Holocaust Cartoon contest – a claim he denies.He’s now […]