Drawing to a Close: The Decline of Editorial Cartooning

By Heywood Reynolds

With the reelection of President Donald Trump, cartoonists find themselves in what can only be described as a target-rich environment. People often tell me, “You will have plenty of material for the next four years!” It’s true—but it’s hardly something to celebrate. In just a week of Trump’s second term, my biggest challenge as a cartoonist isn’t finding material but finding the time to capture all that warrants critique. Should I lampoon Melania’s latest outfit choice, or take aim at the oligarchy undermining democracy? And yet, despite this abundance of material, political cartoons are vanishing from our newspapers. It’s a disturbing trend I’ve witnessed firsthand.

In the summer of 2018, I drew a political cartoon for the local newspaper of a small Adirondack lake community in upstate New York. The cartoon depicted two canoeists paddling across the lake. In the foreground, a pair of loons swam by; in the background, a pontoon boat decked out in MAGA paraphernalia—complete with flags supporting local Congresswoman Elise Stefanik—careened toward them. One of the canoeists said, “Look honey, the loons are back.” The joke was that both the birds and the MAGA boaters could be described as “loony.” Hilarious, right? Well, not everyone thought so.

After the cartoon ran, the editor informed me that several subscribers had canceled their subscriptions, calling the cartoon mean-spirited and partisan. He said the newspaper would need to be more cautious about publishing political cartoons in the future. The conversation left me baffled. I pointed out that the paper regularly published editorials critical of President Trump and other local Republicans. Why should a cartoon be any different?

The editor explained: Most people don’t read. Editorials require effort and focus, while a cartoon can be consumed in an instant. Even the functionally illiterate can understand a cartoon—that’s what makes the medium so brilliant. But the accessibility of cartoons also makes them riskier. The broader your audience, the greater the likelihood of offending someone. And though I have no concrete evidence, I suspect that people who read less are more likely to be offended by a cartoon that challenges their political beliefs.

The unfortunate reality is that many people crave validation for their opinions and are quick to abandon any news outlet that challenges them. That’s why cartoons are disappearing from newspapers. It’s not just cartoons, either—opinion pages themselves are vanishing. Both McClatchy and Gannett, which own a large share of the nation’s newspapers, have significantly scaled back opinion sections and have all but eliminated editorial cartoons.

Recently Ann Telnaes, a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, resigned her job at the Washington Post after she claimed that the newspaper rejected a cartoon critical of its owner Jeff Besos. The cartoon depicted several tech and media moguls offering money and bowing to an altar of Donald Trump. She illustrated the likeness of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta, Sam Altman, the CEO of AI, Patrick Soon-Shiong, the publisher of the Los Angeles Times, Mickey Mouse, the mascot of the Walt Disney Company, and Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post. (Raise your hand if you could identify Altman or Soon-Shiong, let alone their caricatures.)

Ironically, Telnaes resignation caused far worse public relations for Besos and the Washington Post than had they just published the cartoon. A shame for everyone involved, because the Post does great reporting and Telnaes is a talented artist. While I fully support her courageousness, I sincerely hope she has a backup plan, because I don’t know of any newspapers hiring cartoonists.

Still, artists and cartoonists are thriving on social media. By “thriving,” I mean their work is widely shared—but almost no one is paying them. Occasionally, someone will refer to one of my cartoons as a “meme,” which I don’t care for, but I can’t argue with the comparison. Memes and cartoons serve a similar purpose: humor distilled into an easily shareable image. But likes and shares don’t create dollar signs.

So how can we save the cartoons? Honestly, I don’t know, I just draw them. But I do know that we can’t afford to lose them – if for no other reason than to spread our opinions to all the non-readers out there. They won’t see this op-ed.

A version of this Op-Ed was published in The Albany Times Union.