UKH

In case anyone missed this:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jun/17/pittsburgh-post-gazette-rob-r...

 

In reply to Offwidth:

It seems a like a non story.

 

Surely a "free press" doesn't mean that editors are obliged to publish anything and everything that journalists or cartoonists submit?

In reply to timjones:

In isolation it might be. As part of the authoritarian trend in the US it isn't. 

In reply to MG:

I find it hard to pass judgement on any control of the press in the US from this distance.

It certainly sounds if there is a possibility that this particular cartoonist was becoming a bit tired and predictable?

In reply to timjones:

The question is: Was it perceived that the readership was sick of the satirization or was the paper threatened? If it was the latter then that would be pretty sinister imo.

The cartoons I've seen seem excellent and as usual the act of attempting to ban something has had the opposite effect as the images are shared via social media around the world.

In reply to Phantom Disliker:

I don't see that anyone has attempted to ban him.

Only that the paper he worked for no longer wishes to employ him.

His freedom of speech is still very much unaffected, and I'm sure he will continue to find an appreciative audience, probably much helped by this episode.

So ... Big deal.

In reply to Phantom Disliker:

That certainly is the question. 

 

Sadly the article posted in the OP seems rather weak on information on this point and the Pittburgh post Gazette website is so slow that you stand no chance of formulating your own opinion.

In reply to MG:

Though just about every major newspaper in the US is strongly anti-Trump.  Indeed the Whitehouse and the newspaper media are at permanent war with each other. 

If anything is being under-reported, it's the views of a wide swathe of "middle America" who might be tempted to vote for Trump.

In reply to timjones:

In the context of advanced western democracies yes. In the context of backward ultraconservative/facist theocracies and nascent dictatorships not so much.

In reply to Tim Jones - it is indeed very hard to comment on individual cases.  This might well be a single isolated case.  The cartoons are quite extreme by US standards, and if the papers drifting right then they're not obliged to employ him

There is a context though that a lot of local paper and radio stations are owned by larger groups, and some of those do interfere at local level.  There's been some hoohah recently about local radio stations being from high to basically ape Fox, bias reporting, moan about '''fake news's and so on. 

 

In reply to Offwidth:

The mechanics are pretty simple

1 The owners, if they take an interest in the paper's editorial stance, choose an editor who will reflect their chosen view

2 The editor will in turn select contributors who also reflect that view, plus perhaps the occasional dissenting voice for variety

3 Good cartoonists  have a disproportionate impact  because of the immediacy of their work and can perhaps set the political tone of a paper more than any other single  contributor so  they cannot be allowed to use the paper as their personal soapbox with no editorial control. If their stance is either seriously out of kilter with that of the editor/proprietor or that tone changes with a new editor they are liable to the chop.

(As an aside I wonder how many will scream about 'freedom of expression' if Paul Dacre's replacement at the Mail drops some of their more rabid columnists)

4 Additionally a cartoonist with a bee in their bonnet about a particular person or issue can become stale and, the biggest sin of all, boring

In reply to Removed User:

Are you saying that in "advanced western democracies" newspaper editors should print absolutely anything that their staff produce?

In reply to Wiley Coyote2:

Have you heard of Outrage Fatigue?

It's one way how the Fascists can get their way.

Here's hoping Rob Rogers continues to expose the Trump administration in ways that amuse and spikes our curiosity.

In reply to Offwidth:

Printed newspapers are dying on the vine in any case. It's not surprising that they are moving to a more bland format so as not to offend anyone whatsoever. The only people that buy them are geriatrics that can't stand computers and hence have no other method of reading news at breakfast or on the toilet. Most newspaper staffs are skeleton crews these days. I'm surprised anyone thinks they can continue to stay employed after such a long run with a company. 

In any case, the man's cartoons are good. I'm sure he can sell his wares elsewhere.