Doonesbury to be Censored
Good Riddance
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Continental Features, a Sunday-comics consortium, has decided to drop “Doonesbury” after a poll of the 38 papers that run the Continental-produced Sunday comics section. 21 papers voted to drop it, 15 to keep it, and 2 had no opinion.
Van Wilkerson, President of Continental Features, said that Garry Trudeau’s comic “created more controversy than other strips.” And stated, “I have fielded numerous complaints about ‘Doonesbury’ in the past and feel it is time to drop this feature and add another in its place.”
Troy Turner, Executive Editor of the Anniston Star equates this move with censorship. And Star Publisher H. Brandt Ayers told Continental that he and his paper “"strongly object to an obviously political effort to silence a minority point of view. For years, my New Deal father bore the opposition views of Orphan Annie and Daddy Warbucks, and I believe he would have fought an effort to silence them by a simple majority vote. This is wrong, offensive to First Amendment freedoms."
This is not an issue of censorship. This is not “an obviously political effort to silence a minority point of view.” This is a business decision made by businessmen who have a responsibility to maximize the appeal of their product.
The First Amendment may give you the right to speak your mind, but it does not guarantee that someone will provide you with a nationally distributed soapbox and pay you for your opinion.
Personally, I have no problem with the political message of Doonesbury. However, I do have a problem with such a tragically unfunny comic. Good riddance.
Van Wilkerson, President of Continental Features, said that Garry Trudeau’s comic “created more controversy than other strips.” And stated, “I have fielded numerous complaints about ‘Doonesbury’ in the past and feel it is time to drop this feature and add another in its place.”
Troy Turner, Executive Editor of the Anniston Star equates this move with censorship. And Star Publisher H. Brandt Ayers told Continental that he and his paper “"strongly object to an obviously political effort to silence a minority point of view. For years, my New Deal father bore the opposition views of Orphan Annie and Daddy Warbucks, and I believe he would have fought an effort to silence them by a simple majority vote. This is wrong, offensive to First Amendment freedoms."
This is not an issue of censorship. This is not “an obviously political effort to silence a minority point of view.” This is a business decision made by businessmen who have a responsibility to maximize the appeal of their product.
The First Amendment may give you the right to speak your mind, but it does not guarantee that someone will provide you with a nationally distributed soapbox and pay you for your opinion.
Personally, I have no problem with the political message of Doonesbury. However, I do have a problem with such a tragically unfunny comic. Good riddance.
