From The Hartford Courant, 8/29/03:
http://www.ctnow.com/hc-doonesbury.artaug29.story
Newspapers Pull `Doonesbury'
By KEVIN CANFIELD, Courant Staff Writer
An upcoming "Doonesbury" comic will deal with masturbation, and across
the country newspaper editors are grappling with how to handle it (pun
intended).
Of the 34 newspapers that responded to a recent poll conducted by the
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 19 papers said they would not run the
strip, opting instead for a substitute strip provided by the comic's
syndicate.
Twelve papers, including The Courant, said they planned to run the
masturbation strip. (Three papers were not sure.)
The reason for the divide is simple:
It's acceptable to discuss politics, race and other social issues on
the comics page, but sex has traditionally been a no-no.
The Sunday, Sept. 7 installment of the comic, the creation of artist
Garry Trudeau, tries to find humor in recent findings about prostate
cancer.
"There's a new study that suggests that regular masturbation prevents
prostate cancer," says one of the strip's regular characters, the Rev.
Scot Sloan.
A few panels later, a late-arriving character notes that "self-dating
prevents cancer."
Whether the comic is clever or funny is up to the reader, but it seems
certain to evoke some controversy.
Which is why many papers have decided to take a pass on "self-dating."
"I decided not to run it," said Lou Ziegler, editor of the Forum of
Fargo, N.D.
"You know what they say about pornography: `You know it when you see
it.' There is a line between what's acceptable and what's offensive
dialogue in a community like ours. For me, this crossed the line. I
knew it when I saw it.
"I told our publisher and management committee about the decision, as
well as our Readers' Board and the newsroom staff. A handful
disagreed. This is the first time during my more than 15 years as a
newspaper editor that I've pulled a strip."
Frank Fellone, deputy editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, said
his paper is also switching to the substitute strip.
"It seems kind of obvious to us. It was beyond the reasonable
boundaries of good taste to us," he said.
"Other newspapers may feel differently, and that's what makes this
such a great country."
For what it's worth, Trudeau's comic is topical.
The New Scientist magazine recently reported that Australian
scientists found that men who masturbate often in their 20s are about
30 percent less likely to get prostate cancer in their later years.
Still, Universal Press Syndicate, which distributes "Doonesbury" and
many other comics, is offering a substitute.
"We also understand that for some papers," said the syndicate in a
letter to editors, "the use of the m-word, no matter how deftly it is
referenced, may cross the line."
The role of the comics page has evolved since "Doonesbury" made its
debut in 1970.
Once an escape from the problems and concerns of the "real world,"
comics in recent years have dealt with homosexuality, teen suicide,
drug and drinking problems and government policies.
Two years ago, with the nation on edge after the attacks on New York
and Washington, several newspapers declined to run a series of Aaron
McGruder's "Boondocks" comics that were critical of the Bush
administration.
And in 1997 the comic "For Better or Worse" broke ground - and caused
a fuss - when it featured a character who was wrestling with his
sexuality.
It's not known what the artist thinks of the matter; the notoriously
publicity-shy Trudeau isn't commenting.
But it is not the first time he has seen his comic strips pulled
because of what editors considered taste issues.
Under pressure from Universal Press Syndicate, which distributes
"Doonesbury" and many other comics, Trudeau pulled a controversial
1985 series of strips about abortion.
And a few days after 9/11 Trudeau pulled back a comic making fun of
President Bush that he had drawn before the terrorist attacks.
While some try to avoid offending readers, other editors see
"Doonesbury" as social commentary as well as comedy, and so have
decided to run the strip.
"The Courant doesn't make a habit of pulling individual comic strips,
and this one is not going to be the exception," said features editor
Kyrie O'Connor.
"Doonesbury' is a topical strip, appealing almost exclusively to
adults, that often deals with controversies in the news such as this
one. A newspaper makes the choice either to run `Doonesbury' or not,
and we choose to."
She said she was not aware of any instance of The Courant censoring a
comic strip.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is also running the original Sept. 7
strip.
"We run 39 different strips and panels, and we try to appeal to a
variety of readers. We understand that not every reader will enjoy
every strip," said Susan Hegger, the paper's assistant managing editor
for features.
"In the past, we've had complaints about various `Doonesbury,'
`Mallard Fillmore,' `Boondocks' and `Non Sequitur' cartoons. So we
won't be surprised if this particular strip offends some readers.
"Our policy," Hegger added, "which we have upheld in a number of
similar situations, is not to censor our comic strips."
____________________________________________________
Masturbation is cheap, clean, safe and satisfying...
but it's lonely.
Harry
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