Over the past few months, I've been reading with dismay but little surprize as, in the US and elsewhere, newspapers are slowly reducing the number of comic strips they feature as they continue to cut costs in the face of declining ad and subscription revenues.
One of the latest to make a cull is Ontario, Canada's London Free Press, which has just re-organised its comics section, keeping some strips and adding new ones, its editor Paul Berton thankfully recognizing that comics are an intrinsic part of what makes a newspaper's whole.
"Experienced newspaper people know it is not necessarily good journalism that sells papers, but a good overall package," he notes, announcing the changes today. "News and information, of course, but also entertainment: puzzles, comics, games, horoscopes... Diversions such as these have become an important part of this newspaper and most others over the years, and we tinker with them at our peril."
But, he explains, the paper has been forced into making changes due to economic pressures and focus more on spending on local news gathering - its core activity - rather than shelling out for syndicated content.
All of which makes me wonder, just how much are these newspapers - and national newspapers here in the UK run strips that feature nationwide in the US and Canada, too - paying for these syndicated strips that it saves them that much money?
Let's face it, though -- it's not just the economic downturn that's brought on decisions to cul some of them by newspapers, either. There are syndicated strips which have been running for decades and are, perhaps, well beyond their sell by date: some are old, tired, and postively lame and should have ended years ago. Some have certainly become the subject of ridicule, as a quick visit to sites such as The Comics Curmudgeon quickly reveals.
The syndication companies who distribute most of the comics that appear in US newspapers, of course, have recognised the decline in sales of their strips. It looks to me that companies such as uClick are thankfully taking steps to find new blood via the Internet, utilising developments such as ComicsSherpa on their GoComics site to provide a platform for aspiring cartoonists that could lead to them gaining a wider audience and, perhaps, syndication sales. This wider circulation could also, of course extend to sale through GoComics iPhone Comics App, a new means of 'syndicating' comic strip material that iVerse, ROK Comics and others are also all trying.
Newspaper strips, are, I'd suggest, in peril -- but with a good editor with a good feel for his audience, as well as one who wnats to use strips to hep attract new as well as retain existing readers, there are plenty of ways they could do this without adding huge costs to their editorial budget. They could, for example, employ a local comics team but, as with some UK papers, allow then to control the ad spots around their strip to a limite degree, enabling those creators to make up for a perhaps lowerr page rate by advertising their services or merchandise relating to the strip: it's well known that artists in need can quickly sell 'local views' to earn money, so why whouldn't cartoons set in recognisable locales for a newspaper's audience be any different?
Newspapers should be looking at the way webcomics creators and mobile comic creators are monetizing their creations - some admittedly better than others -- and trying to adopt those methods for print, so they don't lose a valuable part of the "Unique Selling Point" canny editors like Paul Berton clearly recognises.
It's well known that few local US newspaper run local cartoonists strips - strips that are actually a reflection of local news and issues. According to a 2008 Media Research Association poll of North American newspapers with circulations above 50,000, among the 10 most popular cartoons are: Garfield, Zits, For Better Or Worse, Dilbert and Baby Blues - all national, not local strips. Cartoonists in the UK, such as Steve English, have told me thay have unsuccessfully tried to sell a 'local' strip to a local paper, usually getting the response that there's no money for it. (Nick Miller and I tried to sell The Really Heavy Greatcoat, above, to local papers in Lancaster, to no avail, although to its credit the Lancaster Guardian has employed a local 'single panel' cartoonist).
But surely buying in a locally produced strip that reflects a local paper's core interest for readers - its coverage of local news - would actually enhance that paper?
It would be great to see some local newspaper editors taking the plunge and engaging with their local comics community and giving that 'local' talent a try, rather than relying on old and perhaps has been standbys...
• Discuss this on the Mobile Comic Creators Forum
Read more...
