Editorial cartoons are a hallmark of newspaper opinion pages, going back to the days of Benjamin Franklin. They stir the pot of political debate with jabs that can be entertaining and biting, ruffling more than a few feathers along the way.
Such was the case last week with a cartoon we published on this page. Drawn by local cartoonist Milt Priggee, it depicted a rat bearing the label "ILWU" (the International Longshore and Warehouse Union) running up a line to a ship labeled "Technology."
The cartoon was published Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday, we fielded plenty of phone calls from readers who were angry (politely so, in almost all cases) about the depiction of longshore workers as rats. Their points were well-made, and were good for us to hear. In hindsight, we believe we made a mistake by running the cartoon, and regret doing so.
The Herald subscribes to news services that deliver the work of several editorial cartoonists from across the nation, cartoonists with a range of political viewpoints. In selecting the cartoons we publish, we look for timely topics and often give preference to a cartoon that addresses a topic that we’re writing about that day. On Wednesday, we wrote an editorial supporting President Bush’s decision to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, putting at least a temporary stop to the lockout at West Coast ports.
The cartoon we ran that day was on the same topic. That wasn’t a good enough reason to publish it.
Political cartoonists intentionally exaggerate points to provoke debate. After all, provoking and facilitating a healthy debate is the job of any newspaper opinion page.
Priggee explained that the cartoon was intended to convey his belief that the union, most of whose members are well-paid, was taking a greedy stand by demanding that any jobs created through new technology be union jobs. Priggee said he believes the union should be more willing to compromise.
As a caricature of the union’s position, Priggee said, the image is not intended to be taken literally, nor is it meant to depict union workers themselves — just the union’s bargaining position.
Still, this particular cartoon hit below the belt. The many readers who called to say so helped remind us that even sharp debate should be civil, and that sometimes a point can be taken too far, even in an editorial cartoon.
We apologize for the hurt we caused by running this one.
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