New York Times To Cut Daily Political Cartoons After Anti-Semitism Controversy
Weeks after running and then apologizing for an anti-Semitic cartoon, the editorial page editor of The New York Times said the newspaper will not be running any more political cartoons in its international edition.
In a statement posted to Twitter on Monday, James Bennet explained the decision to stop publishing political cartoon.
“[F]or well over a year we have been considering bringing [the international edition] into line with the domestic paper by ending daily political cartoons and will do so beginning July 1.”
Our statement in response to ending daily political cartoons in the international edition of The New York Times. pic.twitter.com/FcagTxEZJ9
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) June 10, 2019
Bennett said the newspaper would “continue investing in forms of opinion journalism, including visual journalism, that express nuance, complexity and strong voice from a diversity of viewpoints.”
Several weeks ago, the Times published a cartoon of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that quickly caused a tremendous uproar.
The cartoon featured Netanyahu as a guide dog for a blind President Donald Trump.
The anti-Semitic cartoon showed Netanyahu wearing a Star of David collar. Likewise, President Trump, in the cartoon, was wearing a yarmulke.
After outrage ensued, the paper quickly removed the cartoon and apologized.
“We are deeply sorry for the publication of an anti-Semitic political cartoon last Thursday in the print edition of The New York Times that circulates outside of the United States, and we are committed to making sure nothing like this happens again,” The New York Times said in a statement.
“Such imagery is always dangerous, and at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise worldwide, it’s all the more unacceptable.”
One of the cartoonists whose contract is being ended by The Times voiced frustration over the decision by the newspaper.
Patrick Chappette, who is referenced in the June 10 statement on Twitter, wrote on his website, “Last week, my employers told me they’ll be ending in-house political cartoons as well by July.”
“I’m putting down my pen, with a sigh: that’s a lot of years of work undone by a single cartoon — not even mine — that should never have run in the best newspaper in the world.”
Chappette then slammed publishers, adding that this decision wasn’t just about cartoons, but rather “about journalism and opinion in general.”
“We are in a world where moralistic mobs gather on social media and rise like a storm, falling upon newsrooms in an overwhelming blow,” he said.
“The most outraged voices tend to define the conversation, and the angry crowd follows in.”
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