Todd Persche
CARTOON CANNOT BE USED IN ANY
WAY WITHOUT ARTIST'S PERMISSION!
Baraboo shuts down cartoonist
by Doug Moe The
Capital Times (Madison, Wis.)
October 23, 2001 Used with permission.
THESE ARE dangerous times for media people, and I don't mean the possibility of finding unwelcome surprises in the mail.
It can be dangerous to the health of your bank account to publish an unpopular opinion. Last week two top editors at The Oneida Daily Dispatch in New York were fired over an editorial in September that addressed the terrorist attacks in the context of ongoing turmoil in the Middle East and was perceived by some to be anti-Semitic.
But we needn't venture that far from home to find someone who has lost newspaper work after putting an opinion in print.
Todd Persche Ñ a Baraboo watercolor artist whose work is frequently exhibited in Madison Ñ has been drawing an editorial cartoon once a week on a free-lance basis for the Baraboo News Republic for the past three years.
The News Republic is part of the Central Wisconsin Newspapers group, which was purchased by Madison Newspapers Inc. in 2000.
Persche said the cartoon, titled Bird, most frequently addresses environmental issues. But his cartoon for Oct. 11 Ñ reprinted here Ñ came out of the cartoonist's growing conviction that TV news was serving as a propaganda office for the war effort in Afghanistan.
"You know, maybe there are some other things we could do besides bombing them back to the Stone Age," Persche was saying Monday.
Persche did not think the cartoon was all that controversial. "Kind of milquetoast, really," he said.
The cartoon ran in the Oct. 11 News Republic. Persche said the first indication he had of trouble was a call that afternoon from the editor, Judy Juenger. "She said, 'You aren't going to believe this. They are going to fire you. You're done.' "
Headquarters for Central Wisconsin News papers is in the Daily Register building in Portage. Publisher David Gentry was traveling Monday but Kay Lapp JamesÑmanaging editor for all CWN papersÑinsisted in an interview that Persche's undoing was not the result of any single cartoon. Jarnes insisted that Persche was not fired.
"We were purchasing cartoons on a cartoon by cartoon basis," James said. "We decided to stop purchasing them. That does not mean we won't purchase them in the future." James added that they have received complaints about Persche's cartoons in the past.
The cartoonist, however, said none had ever been forwarded to him.. Persche was also upset that last Thursday's News RepublicÑthe day his cartoon regularly appearedÑcarried no mention of him or any explanation of what had happened. He said numerous friends and readers had sent in letters on his behalf but none has been printed.
"We have received seven letters," James said. "I don't think that's a lot out of 4,000 subscribers." She said publishing the letters as a package is under discussion as is publishing a column explaining the decision to discontinue Persche's cartoons.
Persche said, "It's a creepy time. I watched George Bush when he was at ground zero and said, 'The people who did this hate freedom.' Well, I feel like I've lost my freedom. I'm an American. I'm being told I'm unpatriotic and I resent it."
Persche statement
"When citizens of the United States stand up and question
their government's policies, they are exercising a cherished constitutional
right. Yet when the employers of our nation's media subsequently deny
us this freedom of speech in the name of 'national unity,' which one is
the real threat to democracy?" - Todd Persche, May 14, 2002
For more information contact:
Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons: huckkono@solidarity.com
