Washington Post pulls cartoon on sacked reporter

Posted by Owen Amos on 3 March 2009 at 09:42
Tags: Journalism

The Washington Post has apologised after blocking its own cartoonist depicting the story of a sacked journalist.

Last week, The Post started to run a cartoon by Gary Trudeau, spread over five days, on “Rick Redfern”, a fictional journalist being made redundant after 33 years.

But, on Wednesday, the cartoon stopped, replaced by another.

By Friday, it was back - with missing instalments and an apology.

“Due to that newsroom miscommunication, according to an editor’s note, this week’s ‘Doonesbury’ storyline was interrupted by substitute strips on Wednesday and Thursday,” The Post said.

The American newspaper industry is in crisis, with redundancies and closures common. Last week, the Rocky Mountain News, which had a 210,000 circulation, closed.

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