Seattle convention of editorial cartoonists: discussing the future of funny

Try this for an image: a polar bear with "EDITORIAL CARTOONISTS" on its side, perched on a melting ice floe labeled "NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY."

"I chuckle but I wouldn't draw it," says award-winning syndicated cartoonist Ted Rall. "Don't try this stuff at home, it's not easy."

Rall is president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, which is holding its 53rd annual convention in Seattle today through Saturday at the Washington Athletic Club.

If you need a drawing of a donkey or an elephant, this is the place to go. For reassurances about job security in that profession ... well, if the polar-bear metaphor is lame, events on the convention's schedule suggest it's at least apt. Thursday's luncheon topic exemplifies the overall theme: "Save Your Ass." Or take, for instance, a panel titled "Brother Can You Spare a Dime? The Future of Editorial Cartoon Syndication."

(Thursday's "Cartoonapalooza" event — a benefit at Town Hall open to the public — promises a break from the grimness.)

While the decline of newspaper-advertising revenue isn't news to anyone at this point, New York-based Rall calls editorial cartoonists "the canaries in the coal mine for the future of print journalism."

He reports that more than 25 percent of them lost their jobs last year. About 120 are expected to attend the convention. The Seattle Times no longer has a cartoonist. And in fact Rall said this year's convention nearly didn't happen after the closure of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which was the sponsoring paper. A new sponsor was not found.

Try this one instead: The sinking Titanic labeled "NEWSPAPERS" with the captain booting overboard band members labeled "CARTOONIST" and shouting, "We've got to lighten the ship so it'll stay afloat!"

"I think that sums it up pretty well," says Pulitzer-winning cartoonist David Horsey, laughing. He remains on the crew at the P-I's surviving Web site, and his work is syndicated nationwide.

"It may be, as all cartoons, a bit of an overstatement. But the whole industry is going down and we're in a bit of an emergency situation. A lot of cartoonists wonder why, if you're interested in keeping readers for newspapers, would you get rid of something that's one of the most popular elements of paper."

Still, Rall and Horsey think things may be looking up a bit.

Rall believes the bloodletting is over for now. "I think it was grimmer last year and the year before than it will be this year. Because if you're going through the four stages of grief, last year was shock, we've already gone through denial. Now we're in that mode of acceptance, and a lot of people coming to this convention are rolling up their sleeves and saying, 'Let's figure this thing out.' "

Ironically, Rall says there are more editorial cartoonists working now than ever before, online, self-syndicating, at alternative weeklies — in other words, smaller, lower-profile, lower-paying gigs and not as stars at daily papers.

"We're starting to see the early signs of it," Rall says of the remission: "Younger editors are going to start getting the number one and number two jobs at a lot of papers. They understand that young people like graphics and outrageous political commentary."

"Outrageous" is the key word. The cartoonists have traditionally been the court-jesters of journalism, with license to say what reporters and columnists can't or won't.

"Now there's competition: Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are kind of stealing all our fun," Horsey says. "The one person who can just get out there and say things in an outrageous, entertaining way without having to worry about balance or telling all sides is the editorial cartoonist."

Mark Rahner: 206-464-8259 or mrahner@seattletimes.com