Editing Daily Kos’s cartoon section is only one of the many ways in which Dan Perkins makes his living. Perkins says he started self-syndicating because “it was initially the only option,” but once he had “established a substantial client list, there was no real reason to split my income with a syndicate.” He also prefers this method because it affords him a measure of control; he can decide where his cartoons appear and how much he charges for them. And he has the independence of being his own boss. “I get a lot of checks every week, for like ten or twenty dollars. You get enough of those, you make a living,” says Perkins.
Matt Bors is one of the artists to recently sign a cartooning contract with Daily Kos. Bors juggles a number of jobs as well; he syndicates his cartoons through Universal Press Syndicate, does freelancing work, along with his duties for a project called the Cartoon Movement.
Bors, 28, runs the project with Tjeerd Royaards, 31, and as younger cartoonists, they can’t reminisce about days when they could make a decent living. “You work three days a week so you can cartoon two days a week,” says Royaards. Their site publishes cartoons from artists all over the world, including from places that wouldn’t come top of mind for this craft, like Malaysia, Nepal, and Sudan. Submissions when Osama Bin Laden was killed were particularly interesting: “You’ll have cartoons from America come in saying this is good, and then, from other places, a message that international justice is important. Many different perspectives,” says Royaards. (Their tagline is: “There is more than one truth.”) This summer, Cartoon Movement traveled to Haiti to find a Haitian cartoonist and journalists for a series of comics journalism about the country post earthquake. They’ve since published a number of pieces, including a long form piece about the tent camps called Tents behind Tents, and an animated video about increased homophobia in the region, called Haiti’s Scapegoats.
Cartoon Movement pays one hundred and fifty Euro up front for every piece they publish from their member artists, which, at the moment, is one cartoon per day. It’s not a lot, but they see their model as an alternative to traditional syndication, which doesn’t pay unless the cartoon gets sold to a publisher, and takes a cut of the fee. They also sell the cartoons to other media after purchase, and they have deals with magazines and newspapers around the world. 130 cartoonists have joined the site from over 75 countries, and one of the missions is to foster conversation between these international cartoonists, including discussion about possible revenue models for the digital age.
Their youth could make them uniquely qualified for the task. “[We] are a younger generation of cartoonists, we’re both under 35, we’ve never had staff positions,” says Royaards. “Our experiences as cartoonists have been quite different.” Bors says opinion page editors at papers have always understood the power of something visual on the page, and he’s hoping web editors start giving cartoons the “same priority they give the written word.”
“I have a big web audience,” says Bors, “and a lot of my cartoons are incredibly popular. They fly around the web more than a lot of articles do, but for whatever reason, cartoons aren’t on the budget.”
Correction: This article originally misnamed the cartoon syndicate run by Daryl Cagle. It is Cagle Cartoons, not Cagle Post. The relevant sentences have been corrected. CJR regrets the error.
I founded and run the Cartoonist Group and we work with 50 leading cartoonists, including eight winners of the Pulitzer Prize. We also have a subsidiary site devoted exclusively to editorial cartoons. We are fortunate to work with Amy Lago and her colleagues at the Writers Group and with other leading syndicates. The comments below pertain to digital media — not to newspapers as this is one of the syndicates' areas of expertise, not ours. Additionally, we are speaking only for ourselves — not for the cartoonists or syndicates with which we work.
The report of the Herb Block Foundation arrives at an opportune time, when the initial strategies for cartoonists to adapt to the web have been proven to be unproductive — if not detrimental — and when the next strategies are not yet completely clear. As the report also suggests, as newspaper revenue for cartoonists declines, revenue from alternative sources will be increasingly important in cartoonists' ability to make a living from cartooning.
In this time of uncertainty, two things are evident:
1. It makes no sense to compete primarily on price in the growing digital market. Furthermore, the strategy pursued by some cartoonists of trading exposure for profits in merchandise may work for a limited number of cartoonists but it is not a viable strategy for the majority of cartoonists.
2. Cartoonists who participate in this race to the bottom in the pricing for digital media are working against their own self-interest — and they are dragging all other cartoonists there with them.
Of course, most cartoonists don't sell their own work. Others do. So, there needs to be a meeting of minds on pricing — and an understanding of its importance. Editors should be a part of this discussion.
The sad truth is that at a time when society is becoming increasingly visual, one of the most effective tools for grabbing readers' and users' attention is under duress — some of its own making. We are at a point when the long-term implications of this have been masked because there are so many good cartoonists still working — sometimes by becoming entrepreneurial as Dan Perkins' efforts indicate.
It may be hyperbolic to suggest that editorial cartoons will disappear — but it is clear that the current path is unsustainable for a large number of cartoonists. To change the path will require a large number of cartoonists, marketers, and content purchasers to value cartoons in the best sense of the word.
#1 Posted by Sara Thaves, CJR on Thu 16 Feb 2012 at 02:21 PM
Good to read a long piece on editorial cartooning in the CJR. You might be interested in this post of mine, titled .'Daryl Cagle and the Survival of Cartoon Journalism", published on The Comics Grid.
#2 Posted by Ernesto Priego, CJR on Thu 16 Feb 2012 at 04:05 PM
Not a big fan or Rall or Perkins (which is fine, to each his own), but I sympathize with their plight. Cartoonists are the canary in the coal mine and everyone else (journos, papers) is already choking to death.
One thing for sure - the solution has to be led by the cartoonists themselves. Nobody else is going to solve this for them.
Kudos to Alysia Santo for focusing on this, and good luck to everyone in figuring it all out.
#3 Posted by JLD, CJR on Mon 20 Feb 2012 at 06:50 AM
A while ago the Sunday New York Times stopped carrying its "best political cartoons of the week" feature. I always assumed it was a cost-cutting move, though I can't believe they had to pay much for day-old cartoons. Now they have a fairly inept strip, presumably at considerable savings.
Anybody with any inside knowledge of these developments?
#4 Posted by anotherbozo, CJR on Mon 20 Feb 2012 at 11:22 AM
"One thing for sure - the solution has to be led by the cartoonists themselves. Nobody else is going to solve this for them."
I agree in one way but cartoonists are not the one's a power or even in a position to have control. If it were they could demand higher rates. Sadly they can not.
Editorial illustration is suffering the same fate. MAny times illustrators are asked to work for a very very low fee. When they bring up that they can not work for that price art directors look for a cheaper one. Sad.
#5 Posted by tjmourke, CJR on Fri 24 Feb 2012 at 04:57 PM