I’m posting this especially for my cartoonist friends, especially Robert Ariail and Richard Crowson — both laid off from their newspapers. Like me. And like Bill Day.
As you know, since being laid off, Robert Ariail has been judged (again) the best cartoonist in the world. Several years after winning the Overseas Press Club award, this year he became the first American ever to win the Ranan Lurie United Nations Political Cartoon Award.
Meanwhile, Bill Day — who was laid off from the Memphis Commercial Appeal within a few days of when Robert and I were canned — has also picked up honors, such as the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, and SPJ’s Green Eyeshade Award, as well as the National Press Association’s Award of Special Merit.
Bill, wanting to make sure that the folks at my first newspaper (I was a copy boy at the C.A. back in 1974, while a student at Memphis State) didn’t miss the point, set up a table out in front of the Commercial Appeal‘s offices and posed with his awards.
The unfortunate truth, of course, is that increasingly newspapers care little for such indications of excellence. In fact, the people who were good enough to win awards also tended to be the people whose salaries rose the highest back before newspaper revenues took a nosedive — making them among the first, rather than the last, to get laid off. Such is life in the brave new world, what we have come to term the New Normal.
But at least they know what they’re missing out on. Bill made sure of that.
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It’s like Coca-Cola or KFC tossing out the Secret Recipe and replacing it with tap water.
Newspapers are starting to feel more and more like KMarts–less and less stock of any quality to make you want to go there, thus reinforcing the downward spiral.
Walmart and Target thrive, while KMart languishes. A visit to one of each would likely explain why.
I still find enough of value in The State to continue to subscribe, but I’m a hard core newspaper reader. How many other people just fail to renew their subscriptions and decide to read online or not at all?
If they were not good for pet training & lining packing boxes there would be no excuse for newspapers. As for Bill Day, he was a shining star in the 70s of our youth—and he is still a stellar attaction!