The New York Times Ends Publication Of Editorial Cartoons

Why I penned a Cartoon To The Editor for the paper

When I got word from my friend Patrick Chappatte that he was being let go by The New York Times International Edition, I was shocked. Patrick is one of the best cartoonists in the world, has won the Overeas Press Club of America Award three times. His cartoons are intelligent, observant, measured. I immediately wanted to write an editorial for the NY Times, as I have done so in the past on topics related to international cartooning. Unsure if it would even be considered, I wrote one of my editors there to inquire about the idea. As I suspected, she surmised that the NYTimes would not want to run an editorial on the subject, and that instead she suggested I pen a cartoon letter to the editor.

So I did, and they ran it online and in print yesterday. Here it is:

Many editorial cartoonists are losing their jobs in the US. This is partly due to economic pressures that print is experiencing. The New York Times historically has not run cartoons or comics, instead usually running “Op-Ed art.” For a while they reprinted national political cartoons on the Sunday opinion page. Patrick Chappatte, and the cartoonist Heng Kim Song, of whom I am not aware, were the only regular editorial cartoonists the Times printed — granted…