The Vanishing Art: Opinion Pages in Newspapers Face Decline
The recent layoffs of three Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonists employed by the McClatchy newspaper chain highlight the steady decline of opinion content in the struggling print industry. The firings reflect changing reader habits and a reluctance to provoke anger in an already diminishing readership. The number of employed cartoonists has drastically decreased over the years, with fewer than 20 remaining. While economics play a role, experts also attribute the decline to a broader reluctance to make people mad in the current political environment. Newspapers are offering opinion pages less frequently, and syndicated services are being relied upon for cartoons, primarily dealing with national or international issues.