Continental: Complaints Led to Drop-'Doonesbury' Poll

Editor and Publisher ^ | July 21, 2004 11:50 AM EST, updated at 1:20 PM | Dave Astor

[new cruelty]

NEW YORK A poll that resulted in a vote to drop "Doonesbury" was defended by the head of a Sunday-comics consortium.

"It was not a political statement of any kind," Continental Features President Van Wilkerson told E&P. "I personally don't have an opinion about 'Doonesbury' one way or another."

Wilkerson said he conducted the survey because Garry Trudeau's comic "created more controversy than other strips." In the poll e-mail he sent Continental's newspaper clients this spring, Wilkerson wrote: "(I)t is my feeling that a change in one of the features is required. I have fielded numerous complaints about 'Doonesbury' in the past and feel it is time to drop this feature and add another in its place. ... If the majority of the group favors a replacement, you will be expected to accept that change."

Of the 38 papers that run the Continental-produced Sunday comics section, 21 wanted to drop "Doonesbury," 15 wanted to keep it, and two had no opinion or preference. "I wouldn't call the vote [to drop 'Doonesbury'] overwhelming, but it was a majority opinion," Wilkerson said.

One of the 15 papers, The Anniston (Ala.) Star (Click for QuikCap), expressed public dismay with the vote yesterday -- saying the decision amounted to censorship. In an E&P interview after that article appeared, Star Executive Editor Troy Turner said: "Sure, 'Doonesbury' causes editors headaches from time to time, but there is a proven readership for it. Newspapers need to think of readers first, or they will continue to struggle."

Turner added that he doesn't recall Continental doing polls about any of the other 22 comics in its package; "Doonesbury" was singled out. Wilkerson acknowledged that the survey was out of the norm.

The Continental head said he doesn't know exactly when "Doonesbury" will leave the package; he's currently polling clients to see if they want to replace it with "Agnes," "Get Fuzzy," "Pickles," "Zits," or another comic.

If Continental does pull "Doonesbury" from the package, "we will find a way to run it in the Sunday paper," said Star Editorial Page Editor Bob Davis. He noted that the Star already publishes the daily "Doonesbury" in an unusual locale: the back page of the "A" section.

As previously reported, Star Publisher H. Brandt Ayers e-mailed Wilkerson to say he and his paper's editors "strongly object to an obviously political effort to silence a minority point of view. For years, my New Deal father bore the opposition views of Orphan Annie and Daddy Warbucks, and I believe he would have fought an effort to silence them a by a simple majority vote. This is wrong, offensive to First Amendment freedoms."

"Doonesbury" -- which appears in more than 1,400 papers via Universal Press Syndicate -- has made a lot of news this year with strong criticism of President Bush and the Iraq war. In one sequence, Trudeau offered $10,000 to anyone who could prove Bush served in the Alabama National Guard. And, in an ongoing story line, the B.D. character lost a leg in Iraq and is dealing with the aftermath of that devastating injury.

The 38 papers running the package from Salisbury, N.C.-based Continental are predominately located in the Southeast.

[new cruelty]

38 papers. Its a start.

[new cruelty]

One of the 15 papers, The Anniston (Ala.) Star expressed public dismay with the vote yesterday -- saying the decision amounted to censorship.

hehe... dems are silly.

[atomicpossum]

One of the 15 papers, The Anniston (Ala.) Star (Click for QuikCap), expressed public dismay with the vote yesterday -- saying the decision amounted to censorship.

Will someone loan their copy of the dictionary to The Anniston (Ala.) Star long enough to look up the definition of 'censorship', please?

[Dog Gone]

The Continental head said he doesn't know exactly when "Doonesbury" will leave the package; he's currently polling clients to see if they want to replace it with "Agnes," "Get Fuzzy," "Pickles," "Zits," or another comic.

Get Fuzzy is pretty good. Pearls Before Swine is better, though.

[randog]

"...Newspapers need to think of readers first, or they will continue to struggle."

Uh, isn't that what they're doing by canning the strip and putting in something the readers might want?

[prion]

As previously reported, Star Publisher H. Brandt Ayers e-mailed Wilkerson to say he and his paper's editors "strongly object to an obviously political effort to silence a minority point of view."

Surely many, many minority points of view don't get heard. If you're in the minority, it comes with the territory.

"This is wrong, offensive to First Amendment freedoms."

What part of "Congress shall make no law..." is so difficult for these people? Nothing in the Constitution guarantees everyone a right to be heard, or promises your boss won't fire you if you say something he doesn't like, or your customers won't refuse your goods if you offend them.

[RightWingAtheist]

It should have been dropped yeara ago...not for being "controversial" (it would just parrot whatever Anthony Lewis or Molly Ivins said in their columns the week before) but because it isn't any damn good!

[FormerLib]

"This is wrong, offensive to First Amendment freedoms."

Not only are the Demonrats silly, but they are stupid and they lie.

[beelzepug]

It isn't funny. I never thought it was. On the other hand, Mallard Fillmore.....

[beelzepug]

"Get Fuzzy is pretty good."

Get Fuzzy is wonderful. The guy who draws it must detest the French.

[Larry Lucido]

The Anniston Star was a liberal rag when I lived there in 1983. Sounds like it hasn't changed a bit.

[Argus]

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (Click for QuikCap), expressed public dismay with the vote yesterday -- saying the decision amounted to censorship

This is rapidly becoming the last refuge of the mediocre, untalented has-been. Garry Trudeau, Linda Ronstadt, Michael Moore - no matter how boring, shrill, unfunny and offensive you get, you can never be given the hook because that would be "CENSORSHIP". It's lifetime tenure for showbiz hacks.

[tracer]

He, he. The Market, she has spoken -- yet again....

[tracer]

"The guy who draws it must detest the French."

Go figure.....

[Liberty Valance]

If the Anniston Star wants it so bad then by all means they should run it on their opinion page like many other newspapers do. The people that run (and read) "funny pages" just want funny. Is that so hard to understand? Politics are often divisive...funny is universal.

[bondjamesbond]

How about replacing him with Day by Day by Chris Muir?

It's funny and the guy can actually draw!

[summer]

RE your post #16 - LOL!

[O.C. - Old Cracker]

Jane Pauley is said to be furious.

[summer]

I post a lot of editorial cartoon threads, so I'll tell you another survey I'd like to see taken: Someone should ask local editorial cartoonists to publicly disclose their policies for choosing which schools in a school district these local editorial cartoonists will visit.

And, specifically, ask why some schools's students get a visit each and every year from the local editorial cartoonist, while other schools get ZERO, or, ONE, and that's it forever.

I will give you a little hint why I believe this happens: if the art teacher at the school happens to be more open minded than a Communist, then the number of visits that teacher's school receives varies from ZERO to ONE. And, no more.

Not a fair system, but one based on the local editorial cartoonist's "discretion" if that cartoonist happens to perfer to only offer repeat visits to the students of Communist teachers. That kind of system may leave some teachers little room to feel sympathy for Doonesbury being dumped.

Who knows, if more local editorial cartoonists were dumped, and more balancedf editorial cartoonists hired, maybe more students in schools would get visits from local editorial cartoonists. And, the new system for deciding these visits would be public - and fair.

Not likely to happen anytime soon though. A hundred more Doonesbury's will need to be publicly dumped before someone gets the message to look at their own local newspaper's editorial cartoonist's secret policies for school visits.

In some school districts the current policy is as simple minded as this: if the art teacher is a Dem, then the local cartoonist will consider making multiple visits on an annual basis. But if the art teacher is suspected of being anything other than that, then, the local editorial cartoonist makes only one visit, and wants a glowing letter of praise to his publisher from the art teacher to prevent any questions in the future as to why he will depreive these students in the future.

In short, welcome to Cuba, Mr. Trudeau. Many teachers are already suffering there.

[summer]

schools's students = schools' students