Editorial Explanations could not exist without the work of dedicated, professional, full-time editorial cartoonists. Sure, we might pick on them on any particular day, but we're all richer when there are more cartoonists, with more points of view, working and contributing to the discourse.
It's no secret that editorial cartooning is under serious stress -- every piece of the traditional newspaper is, from classified ads to the sports pages. But cartoonists, who tend to be a bit odd, and tend to poke at the foibles of the powerful in ways that often make them lightning rods for reader anger, are perhaps under even more stress, and in our current heavily-syndicated world, more and more papers are doing without their own dedicated cartoonist.
We can deplore that -- we do deplore that -- but there's not a lot we can do about it. (Well, if we're in a position to buy lots of newspaper ads, that would help. But most of "us" aren't.)
Bill Day was the staff editorial cartoonist for the Commercial Appeal of Memphis (after a 30-year-long career that also included a stint at the Detroit Free-Press) until early 2009, when he was laid off in a round of recession-caused job cuts. He's not the only one who lost a job, certainly, but he's been without a regular gig since then, and he's now close to losing his home.
Now Daryl Cagle, of CagleCartoons, has launched a crowdfunding effort, hoping to raise at least $35,000 to keep Bill Day cartooning, at least four times a week, for another year. That campaign, on Indiegogo, will run for another 52 days, and it's just over halfway to its goal.
If you like editorial cartoons -- or even if you just like seeing them made fun of -- please consider contributing to this campaign.
Good on you, Andrew.
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