"The profession of editorial cartooning isn't so much dying as it is simply entering a new phase in the the circle of life -- the phase where the corpse is eaten by maggots and turned into dirt," writes Kirk Anderson, a former staffer for the Pioneer Press, in a commentary for Minnesota Public Radio about the future of editorial cartoons.
In it, Anderson chronicles the waning influence of cartoonists due to readers' ever-increasing entertainment options. He also lays out the reasons he think the profession is in decline:
Editorial cartoons are dying because newspapers are dying, or perhaps "adapting." Or "entering a new phase in the circle of life." Some of the damage is self-inflicted. Some newspapers want safe cartoons that won't bring phone calls from advertisers, and safe cartoons are as fascinating as safe NASCAR.
To the extent we cartoonists oblige, self-censor and draw nonthreatening gag cartoons about swilling beers at the White House, we're part of the problem and deserve our enforced dirt nap.
Read the full piece here, and check out Kirk's cartoons here.
[h/t - Daily Cartoonist]
