The Men at the Easels are Pissed!

More than 80 editorial cartoonists created about 125 drawings criticizing the shrinking state of their profession for today’s “Black Ink Monday” protest. Editor and Publisher has the story.

Exactly 100 of those cartoons are currently posted at EditorialCartoonists.com, according to Association of American Editorial Cartoonists President-Elect Rob Rogers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and United Media. The AAEC organized the protest.

A note on EditorialCartoonists.com states: “‘Black Ink Monday,’ a nonviolent protest by the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, is a response to the Tribune Company’s recent elimination of editorial cartooning positions at several of its newspapers, as well as a commentary on newspapers everywhere who have lost sight of the value of having a staff editorial cartoonist.

Rogers said he’d be surprised if Tribune Co. newspapers brought back cartoonists because of “Black Ink Monday.” But he hopes the protest might make some papers think twice about dropping a cartoonist in the future.

“Syndicated cartoons may be cheaper, but a local cartoonist gives a newspaper something no other newspaper has,” said Rogers.

The Post-Gazette staffer said he understands the economic concerns of newspapers and newspaper chains. But he added that most papers with cartoonists only have one cartoonist — meaning dropping that person basically eliminates an entire department. Rogers said a paper without a staff cartoonist is more “homogenous” and “vapid,” which “doesn’t sound like a great business decision.”