The Cartoonists for Both Chicago Dailies Now See Politics From Right of Center

So the two Chicago dailies have one more thing in common, in addition to being in bankruptcy and cutting staffs and news holes.

Both papers now have right-of-center political cartoonists. Each paper employs only one staff cartoonist, so that's a mighty megaphone.

With Tuesday's hiring of Scott Stantis as staff cartoonist to replace Jeff MacNelly, who died nine years ago, the Chicago Tribune has given the platform and a seat on its editorial board to a man who, according to the Tribune's media writer, Phil Rosenthal, is a "self-described libertarian conservative." Rosenthal reports that Stantis considered running as a Republican for the Alabama state Senate.

Currently with the Birmingham News, a once-a-week contributor to USA Today, and syndicated to some 400 newspapers, Stantis is also creator of the "Prickly City" comic strip which, interestingly, the Tribune dropped a couple of years ago.

A sampling of Stantis' work is on Rosenthal's blog. And another cartoon on Chris Kennedy's announcement that he's going to skip the race for the Obama's senate seat.

The Tribune's editor told Rosenthal that Stantis' cartoons will, at times, be "used on Page one."

The Chicago Sun-Times has long had a no-holds-barred conservative in Pulitzer Prize (1989) winner Jack Higgins. His recent cartoon on Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea to bring back the two, young, imprisoned American journalists shows a jovial Big Bill walking and chatting with the smiling, diminutive North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-il Bill asks him:

"Why me? Why here? I dunno. Maybe it's just because I'm so good at picking up chicks."

Another shows the crash of one of the the teleprompter-dependent Obama's teleprompters: "The teleprompter has left a suicide note."

Comments

[MilesLong]

05:50 PM on 08/23/2009

Where's Herbert Block when we really need him?

Miles "Oops! When Did I Become My Father?" Long

[Alice Singleton]

02:25 PM on 08/20/2009

The Trib syndicate does have its fair share of liberal cartoonists, including Chan Lowe and Paul Combs. Hopefully they will balance out the front page with both sides.

[larry278]

10:34 PM on 08/19/2009

Relax, Chicagoland progressives, the Tribune & Sun-Times are bound to fold. Neither paper will ever come out of bankruptcy. The court will order that their assetts be liquidated. That means the end for both papers. Maybe the St Louis Post-Dispatch will ship a Chicagoland edition up to you. That will mean that Chicago, at last, will have a real newspaper. If things go well the Post-Dispatch will print its Chicagoland ed in Cook Co, Il. But newspapers continue fold. Chicago may be forced to exist sans any newspaper.

[Bonnie Mcgrath]

09:03 PM on 08/19/2009

as a cartoon collector (i go to columbia college's auction every year and end up with a lot), my humble opinion is that the new guy at the trib appears to be very UNfunny (ie, the kennedy cartoon--yuk)--as are most right wingers, who generally have no sense of humor. i guess the trib wants to alienate and lose even more readers.

[Carol Felsenthal]

09:39 PM on 08/19/2009

I think the "Burris Tells His Story" cartoon is quite good. One of the most interesting parts of the story to me is that the Tribune was without a cartoonist since Jeff MacNelly's death in 2000.

[medicare4all]

08:51 PM on 08/19/2009

Thank you, Ms. Felsenthal. It's the little things, like comic strips that can erode the civic sense. I noticed it years ago in my own newspaper. Now the only one I read is Wiley's Non Sequitor. Some of the others are pro pa gan da aimed at the witless young readers.