Would you miss reader-submitted cartoons?
October 21st, 2009 at 10:58am Wally Haas
A couple of colleagues at other newspapers and a few folks here at the News Tower have told me that they think it’s time to ditch the reader-submitted cartoons that we publish Sundays.
We’ve been accepting cartoons for at least a decade, but in recent years only a handful of people have been sending us their work. The original idea was to allow those who do better with art than words to have an outlet for their opinions. We envisioned dozens of folks sending us cartoons every week and then choosing the best two or three. That hasn’t happened.
Some of the better cartoonists moved away, got too busy with their real jobs, or died.
Also, when we started with those cartoons, we had an Opinions section, i.e, more space to publish them. Now that we only have two pages on Sundays, is it time to use that space for other material?
I’d like to get your thoughts.
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24 Comments Add your own
1. Juice | October 21st, 2009 at 11:39 am
I have done a few over the years. It would be helpful to allow people to email them in, espcially if they are computer generated (Photoshop). Why use the snail mail and then scan an image that is already computerized?
2. Monkey | October 21st, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I’d much rather see more letters to the editor on Sundays, and every day for that matter, than the cartoons. To be honest, the cartoons are really not all that funny or clever.
3. John5205 | October 21st, 2009 at 12:44 pm
I agree with Monkey, I’d rather see more letters to the editor. Besides that, all of the cartoons seem to come from the same small group of people.
4. Georgette Braun | October 21st, 2009 at 1:44 pm
I agree with Monkey. Ditch ‘em. Now.
5. Rachel Jensen | October 21st, 2009 at 1:57 pm
I don’t think the drawing is rvery good in most of them and I have seen a lot of misinformation published in these usually very personal “toons”.
6. Mike Gallagher | October 21st, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Eliminate them! The ones contributed by Fiorello several years ago were quite good- especially his graphics. Current ones are terrible - generally not even amuzing.
Why don’t you pick up some of the national ones - there are really good ones in other publications.
7. Paul Hartzog | October 21st, 2009 at 3:27 pm
No I would not miss them. It was an interesting idea and I am a little disappointed that the results weren’t better.
What makes this idea difficult is that few people are able to express interesting and informed opinions in writing. Adding the need to be artistic, clever, and concise makes this even more difficult.
Editorial cartoons look simple because they usually have only one panel but good ones tell a story it would take several paragraphs to write AND they are usually funny and/or ironic.
Leave the cartoons to the pros and leave the letters to us “Joes”.
8. hokumboy | October 21st, 2009 at 4:24 pm
I personally don’t care for the submitted cartoons. They’re not that insightful, funny or well done. But why not leave them in? They’re a good space filler, cost you folks nothing, and are a bit of a “link with the community” that media outlets always feel they should have.
9. Greg Galen | October 21st, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Drop them, most are hokey.
10. Chuck Sweeny | October 21st, 2009 at 9:20 pm
I would miss Fir’s Family, Wally.
11. Russ Milanp | October 22nd, 2009 at 8:24 am
I will not miss them. They have never hooked me.
more letters or more opinion columns
12. Doug Clayburg | October 22nd, 2009 at 8:44 am
I would miss the cartoons. I do see quality in Kyle Wolfe’s cartoons and several others. While there are some poor ones, there are poor leeters as well.
Letters tend to be wordy while cartoons demonstrate what is on Rockford readers minds in a much more condensed medium.
You could likely add one letter for the 2 cartoons you generally run. Keep the cartoons, at least on Sunday’s.
13. Dan Smyth | October 22nd, 2009 at 10:25 am
Why stop? have a section that teaches the art of drawing and the making of a comic idea.
The only thing that makes a paper personal is the personal things you put into it. So much is just off the IP or someother blog the paper owner likes. I see no reason to stop the idea. If there is no interest then stop when you get no input.
I would like to see a page or two a day of letters to the editor with 2 weeks wait for another submission is accepted.
14. Juice | October 22nd, 2009 at 11:27 am
Absolutely limit to one per week to get rid of the lame “space fillers”. If you have good ones, run them. If you don’t then run more letters.
15. Rachel Storck | October 22nd, 2009 at 3:42 pm
I would DEARLY miss the editorial cartoon section, especially those done by Kyle Wolfe. His are thoughtful and thought provoking, not to mention incredibly artistic and impressive. PLEASE, do not get rid of this section of the paper. Only letters to the editor would make this section mundane. The cartoons make this section eye catching, without which I’m sure many readers would bypass it.
16. Kyle Wolfe | October 22nd, 2009 at 4:02 pm
This article upsets me as a regular cartoonist of the RRS for over a year now. When I started my cartoons were accepted week after week, no problem. (We are allowed to submit our editorial cartoons once a week - Sunday). I moved to creating my cartoons in full color after a few months, and the paper started printing them in color for me - Awesome!
Then, after some time, we were told that spots were limited for various reasons. Later I was told that I must submit every other week so that other cartoonist could have a chance to be in the paper. …So I think that dream of selecting only the best of the best is more about letting everyone have a fair chance …(at least in my experience).
And now this article. Basically a precursor to eliminating an opportunity for local opinions to be seen rather than read.
I also reject the comment by Monkey, many of my cartoons ARE clever. I would say they are not always funny - but editorial cartoons shouldn’t always be!
17. chickenwing | October 22nd, 2009 at 4:08 pm
i think the whole paper should be cartoons.
18. Wally Haas | October 23rd, 2009 at 8:36 am
Sorry, I’m a bit late on this. There’s no plan to eliminate the cartoons. I wanted to see readers offer their pros/cons just as I did when I posed the question about Doonesbury a few years ago.
19. Wally Haas | October 23rd, 2009 at 8:38 am
Juice, I do accept e-mailed cartoons. Mr. Wolfe and some of the less frequent submitters send theirs as jpegs.
20. johnny | October 23rd, 2009 at 10:40 am
the cartoons are exactly as good as the letters to the editor–some are thought provoking, some are ridiculous, and some make you smile a little. They are not LOL funny, but neither are the pro’s. keep them, please.
21. John Penn | October 23rd, 2009 at 10:57 am
As a regular submitter over the last 6 months, I would have to say that some of my submittals were meant to be humorous…most were not. And humor is not necessarily the message being submitted. I enjoy humor, but just like letters, these are ways for Rockfordian to express views on current events. The ability to be controversial is a key element in the pursuit of freedom.
As an unpaid contributor, I will admit that the quality of the cartoons is not what it would be if I were a paid contributor…but I also expect the quality of the paid editorialists to be of better quality than the local letters to the editor.
My views are much different than those of Kyle Wolfe’s but I enjoy his cartoons as well as most all of them. It appears that many of the negative comments posted are about not agreeing with the cartoons rather than the quality.
If you do not have a quality cartoon to run on a given Sunday, or if the letters are so impactful it makes sense to not have the cartoons, don’t run any that week. If you feel the need to limit cartoons to monthly like the letters, do so. I believe the paper benefits from the reader submitted cartoons.
22. charley | October 23rd, 2009 at 8:09 pm
I FEEL THE CARTOONS SHOULD STAY, AND I FEEL THAT THE PAPER SHOULD CONTACT LOCAL SCHOOLS INVITE STUDENTS AT ALL GRADE LEVELS WHO ARE TAKING ART TO PARTICIPATE. THIS WOULD GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO SHINE, AND BE NOTICED
23. julie | October 26th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
please discontinue the irrelevant, unfunny, too-personal cartoons. There are too many published from too few contributors, most make us ask what the point of printing them was, and they are a waste of space. The ones with a crudely drawn man holding a newspaper with a not so clever headline were old news years ago. I beg you to stop the insanity and dedicate space to something worthwhile, like more letters or columns from local authorities,
24. John DeRango | November 11th, 2009 at 8:30 am
I have submitted many a cartoon in my day and intend to continue this, it is a great way of reaching the public. As the cartoonist is being squeezed out of the larger papers, I think that this would be folly. I agree that some of the quality is poor as is their message. But their are others who submit work that truly have talent.
For me it opened up many new opportunities, I got jobs doing caricatures, was on some radio talk shows with other cartoonists, and many a side job too. All because of the opportunity your paper has given me.
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