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Cartoonist Fired for Political Cartoons

Somerville

Somerville

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That damned "liberal media" shutting up another outspoken 'voice'

An American editorial cartoonist has been fired for skewering Trump. He likely won’t be the last.

“Oh, good lord.”

That was my reaction the day after the election of Donald Trump in November of 2016, when it dawned on me that I would be serving my year as president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists during the same time as the guy who wanted to “open up” libel laws and weaken the First Amendment so he could sue journalists more easily. Instead of the usual loss of jobs for editorial cartoonists that a president of the AAEC has to address during his or her tenure, now I’d be dealing with a much more fundamental threat to our profession: a president of the United States who has no idea or respect for the institution of a free press and its role in a democracy.

I did worry that editorial cartooning would be the next target of a president so enamored of visuals. That didn’t happen. In retrospect, I’m fairly certain it’s because Trump doesn’t read; he gets all his news from the television (Fox News) and uses Twitter as his megaphone. And I’m guessing his staff doesn’t cut out cartoons and tape them to the White House refrigerator so he will see them as he goes for his regular two scoops of ice cream. But with the firing of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette cartoonist Rob Rogers, we now see that suppressing a free press can be accomplished without an authoritarian president’s orders. Michael Cohen isn’t the only “fixer” Trump has at his disposal.
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One cartoonist fired for his political views but his release from a job he had held for 25 years is an example of what we may be facing as a nation with a president who wants to be able to shut up or shut out media reporters he doesn't like. Every day, we can read of Trump or one of his minions attacking or denigrating a media outlet or one of the reporters.

The President doesn't need laws or regulations to shut up the media, he has "fixers"
I realize now I didn’t recognize this other danger of an authoritarian president: his enablers and the willing supporters who squash dissent and help attack the free press and subvert the Constitution. The fact that Trump will use any opportunity to spread lies and whip up hatred toward journalists only enables his powerful supporters in the media to do his dirty work for him. In April, another disturbing example of journalistic manipulation was exposed when a video surfaced showing news anchors from 45 Sinclair-owned stations reciting word for word the same script criticizing the mainstream media and spouting the “fake news” accusations that Trump uses in his diatribes.
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from the mayor of Pittsburgh

Statement by Mayor William Peduto on Cartoonist Rob Rogers
PITTSBURGH, PA (June 14, 2018) Mayor William Peduto released the following statement today after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette fired award-winning editorial cartoonist Rob Rogers:

"The move today by the leadership of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to fire Rob Rogers after he drew a series of cartoons critical of President Trump is disappointing, and sends the wrong message about press freedoms in a time when they are under siege.

This is precisely the time when the constitutionally-protected free press – including critics like Rob Rogers – should be celebrated and supported, and not fired for doing their jobs. This decision, just one day after the President of the United States said the news media is "Our Country's biggest enemy," sets a low standard in the 232-year history of the newspaper.

I've known Rob a long time. That has never stopped him from publishing cartoons that are critical of me, of my policy positions, or of my actions (or inactions) in office. He's even made fun of my weight. But he is one of the best in the world at his time-honored craft, and I know people of all political persuasions stand with me in support of him, even if the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette regrettably does not."
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Looks like some politicians don't suffer from the fragile ego problem exhibited by the president.
 
Not familiar at all with him. Apparently he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1999 and had worked for the newspaper for over two decades.

As a result of his firing, he now has an international reputation and his cartoons will reach a wider audience than ever before.
 
HowardBThiname said:
A newspaper fired a cartoonist because his stuff was too offensive.

Yawn......
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I can't wait to see Sean Hannity in handcuffs. Ironically, I suspect the response will be far more than "yawn" when that happens.
 
Serenity said:
Not familiar at all with him. Apparently he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1999 and had worked for the newspaper for over two decades.

As a result of his firing, he now has an international reputation and his cartoons will reach a wider audience than ever before.
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Hope so for him. He can't be far from the retirement the right-wing snowflake just tried to steal from him.
 
Serenity said:
Not familiar at all with him. Apparently he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1999 and had worked for the newspaper for over two decades.

As a result of his firing, he now has an international reputation and his cartoons will reach a wider audience than ever before.
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This is my opinion as well.

The guy now has the best opportunity to draw what he really wants and make even more money.
 
Was the action political or financial?
 
Somerville said:
That damned "liberal media" shutting up another outspoken 'voice'



One cartoonist fired for his political views but his release from a job he had held for 25 years is an example of what we may be facing as a nation with a president who wants to be able to shut up or shut out media reporters he doesn't like. Every day, we can read of Trump or one of his minions attacking or denigrating a media outlet or one of the reporters.

The President doesn't need laws or regulations to shut up the media, he has "fixers"
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Are you saying Trump owns the company this man was fired from?

If not how exactly did Trump fire this man then?
 
calamity said:
I can't wait to see Sean Hannity in handcuffs. Ironically, I suspect the response will be far more than "yawn" when that happens.
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Do you realize that there's a difference between being "fired" for being inappropriate, and "arrested?" If Hannity gets arrested, it will be for an actual crime.
 
Somerville said:
That damned "liberal media" shutting up another outspoken 'voice'



One cartoonist fired for his political views but his release from a job he had held for 25 years is an example of what we may be facing as a nation with a president who wants to be able to shut up or shut out media reporters he doesn't like. Every day, we can read of Trump or one of his minions attacking or denigrating a media outlet or one of the reporters.

The President doesn't need laws or regulations to shut up the media, he has "fixers"
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Right, because everyone who criticizes Trump has been fired or silenced in some way. :roll: In case you havent been paying attention, the media is nothing but Trump bashing--from print to tv to Hollywood, to Late Night to music to comedy, to universities, the one thing you can do in America is bash Trump. One guy gets canned for crappy cartoons and youact like we are living in the Fourth Reich. Talk about unhinged...
 
Somerville said:
That damned "liberal media" shutting up another outspoken 'voice'



One cartoonist fired for his political views but his release from a job he had held for 25 years is an example of what we may be facing as a nation with a president who wants to be able to shut up or shut out media reporters he doesn't like. Every day, we can read of Trump or one of his minions attacking or denigrating a media outlet or one of the reporters.

The President doesn't need laws or regulations to shut up the media, he has "fixers"
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The news media see the writing on the wall... there is no Russiagate. So those who have built their castles on Russiagate, are now going to have to replace it. They can't go left because the left is bat **** crazy, so they are going to try to make up with the middle who has learned to ignore them.

Even the Sacramento Bee, a commie left wing rag if there ever was one, has chilled out on Trump. There is an election coming, and they are seeing the democrats grip loosen partly due to the implied violence and retribution aimed at those "who don't think like we do".
 
Somerville said:
That damned "liberal media" shutting up another outspoken 'voice'



One cartoonist fired for his political views but his release from a job he had held for 25 years is an example of what we may be facing as a nation with a president who wants to be able to shut up or shut out media reporters he doesn't like. Every day, we can read of Trump or one of his minions attacking or denigrating a media outlet or one of the reporters.

The President doesn't need laws or regulations to shut up the media, he has "fixers"
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Let me see if I've got thos straight: a private company didn't like the job performance of one of it's employees, so the employee was fired?

How is that President Trump's fault?
 
calamity said:
I can't wait to see Sean Hannity in handcuffs. Ironically, I suspect the response will be far more than "yawn" when that happens.
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For what?
 
Fletch said:
Right, because everyone who criticizes Trump has been fired or silenced in some way. :roll: In case you havent been paying attention, the media is nothing but Trump bashing--from print to tv to Hollywood, to Late Night to music to comedy, to universities, the one thing you can do in America is bash Trump. One guy gets canned for crappy cartoons and youact like we are living in the Fourth Reich. Talk about unhinged...
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Clearly you're pleased. I mean, how dare these people be critical of the God-Emperor?
 
HowardBThiname said:
Do you realize that there's a difference between being "fired" for being inappropriate, and "arrested?" If Hannity gets arrested, it will be for an actual crime.
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Well, the area where Cohen 'advised' him is well known for being a vehicle for money laundering. There is a possibility that is one reason some people where freaking out. I suspect probably not, but the reputation of using real estate as a money laundering method remains.
 
From Politico what the person who fired Rogers says:

The publisher of a Pittsburgh newspaper on Saturday defended the controversial firing of its editorial cartoonist, saying he “hasn’t been funny in a long time.”

“He’s just become too angry for his health or for his own good,” John Block, the publisher and editor-in-chief of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, told POLITICO in his first interview since the firing earlier this week. “He’s obsessed with Trump.”

...Asked his reaction to the [Rogers's] Times op-ed, Block said: “I haven’t seen it yet. He’s playing it for everything that it’s worth and I think that’s a mistake. I don’t think that’s a good idea.” https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/16/pittsburgh-cartoonist-firing-publisher-gazette-650389
 
rocket88 said:
Clearly you're pleased. I mean, how dare these people be critical of the God-Emperor?
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Im not pleased or displeased. And "God-Emperor" is just stupid.
 
Dittohead not! said:
The First Amendment is under attack

Yawn.....
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Not really. A private business has the right to fire someone who is inappropriate.

The First Amendment was under a much greater attack when Obama condemned the spoof-movie "Innocence of Muslims."
 
HowardBThiname said:
Not really. A private business has the right to fire someone who is inappropriate.

The First Amendment was under a much greater attack when Obama condemned the spoof-movie "Innocence of Muslims."
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Sure, sure, calling anything the president doesn't like "fake news" and declaring the media the enemy of the people isn't an attack on the First Amendment, no, no, not at all.
 
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