Because I Have So Much Free Time
The votes are in. I am President-Elect of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC), the only organization of which I am a dues-paying member.
It’s a minor historial moment: I am the first “alternative” cartoonist to have held this office.
Surely there’s some way to close the following logic gap: Never, in the history of the form, has the quality of political cartoons has been as high as it is today. Never have they been more widely read, or appreciated, by the public. Yet newspapers are firing their cartoonists and slashing their budgets to buy syndicated cartoons. There have never been so few cartoonists. There have never been so few editorial cartoons in print.
There’s a huge demand for editorial cartoons. But the media that used to pay for them are dying (really committing editorial suicide). Trying to find a free market solution to this conundrum will be my biggest challenge during the coming couple of years.
12 Comments.
Ted, I've noticed that your blog displays no advertizing in the margins, have you ever entertained the idea of selling that space?
I've seen a lot of sites that do allow the ads and I know they don't distract me from the content that I've actually visited the blog to enjoy. Isn't this based on the Google business model, providing free services and content in exchange for advertizing revenue? I don't know if this is of any practical value, I'm just throwing it out there because I think the possiblities are intriguing.
I'm currently working on a website redesign that will totally modernize and revamp rall.com. Although I like to keep the site as light on commercials as possible, one of the things I'm considering to justify keeping the site going is more advertising. After all, free access to my work through the Web is killing my newspaper syndication. If we don't come up with a new profit model for cartoonists soon, there won't be a professional cartoonist left.
Simple, cartoonists set up individual sites with all their 'toons. Offer a free sample (say the latest cartoon) and then offer people a per cartoon viewing at an extremely cheap rate (say 5¢). 2,000 views a week and you are in the middle class. That goes for new material but also old material (so, if I "discover" a new cartoonist and like his stuff, I may read back into his archives and hours of looking may only cost me an economical $5-10, cheaper than a movie). Good luck.
I'd follow the ad-based model as opposed to the subscription model, personally. Google does have a nice set-up with their AdWords Campaign (I believe that is what it's called – please correct me if I'm wrong). Unlike the Flash-based beasts on so many other websites, I find contextual text ads not only less obtrusive but more inviting to click on because of that unobtrusiveness.
It's not that simple. People have tried it. Once things go up behind a subscription wall on the web, most people tune out. Many think things should simply be free. Others do not have any Paypal or don't trust paying through the internet.
It's somewhat ironic or sad that just when comics and editorial cartoons were starting to look good (quality wise), the newspaper industry starts going down the toilet, or as you said, "committing editorial suicide."
I wouldn't be surprised if 30 years from now, when webcomics actually become profitable, the internet will go down the drain, too (I don't know what will replace the internet, but I'm sure something will)
To bring back the editorial cartoon, I would either (a) force newspapers to have quotas on ec's (with the column space given to a rotating number of cartoonists) or (b) start a publication that is just editorial cartoons. Maybe Soros would give you the start-up cash. Good luck with whatever you do.
– Strelnikov
It would be somewhat ironic if you got ad banners for the US Army here, considering "Army of one IQ point".
Here's a good cartoon on the subject:
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/41047/
The paper doesn't get read because there is so little objective reporting. The papers in my area are largley held by the right and obviously slanted. The Sunday funnies are not funny which fits very well with the American Talibans, lack of a sense of humor.
All I'm saying is that guy in the "intellectual obesity" toon and the new Anbar toon is killing me. Im crying from laughter. He is going to single-handedly save comics.
Slap his vacant face on the side of a radio controlled blimp with "rall.com" under it, and fly it past the free speech zone at the next DNC or RNC. On the other side put up some media-bating phrase and you're set. Sit back and get some hacked publicity.
1) There oght to be a page where every toon's first panel is displayed with the cartoonists name under it. This is so you can fit like 20 on a fully expanded browser window. Not all of the comics are up all of the time, but every cartoonist gets equal exposure. This is the first step.
If 30 cartoonists are members of this system and you charge $5 a month for subscription, and you get 10,000 subscriptions, then that is $20,000 for each cartoonist per year.
2) As head of the AAEC, it is now your job to do something about the newspapers sucking. Once journalists stop equating balance with truth, hard hitting cartoons can be featured right next to stories! This will help newspapers cater to ADHD gen Y-ers.
3) Cheap guerilla tactics will never hurt. You can hack a 10,000 lumen, long throw projector and project a high-contrast comic onto a building for an hour or two a day. Shit like that. Go nuts!