University Wire
03-30-2001
(The State News) (U-WIRE) EAST LANSING, Mich. -- "I get up at about 6:30 and start downing caffeine, and then I listen to the news all the way to work. Once I get here, I start reading -- reading newspapers, getting online and finding out what's going on in the news."
Lots of caffeine, lots of news -- that's how Mike Thompson, professional editorial cartoonist for the Detroit Free Press, kicks off every day.
After absorbing the latest headlines, Thompson goes to the editorial board meeting at 9:30 a.m. There, the board members talk about what's on the agenda for the day and Thompson starts forming ideas about what to draw for his daily cartoon.
His job is no piece of cake, as he'll readily tell you. It sometimes takes hours to formulate an idea worth drawing.
"Every day is completely different," Thompson said as he drew his cartoon for the next day's paper. "There are days when you come in and George Bush has been himself and you go, 'Thank you God,' because you have an idea. And there are other days that you are really struggling."
Originally an art major at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Thompson switched his major to journalism and started cartooning for the school newspaper.
After graduating in the late 1980s, Thompson worked at newspapers in Milwaukee and St. Louis. He arrived at the Free Press in fall 1998.
More than a decade after he started his career, Thompson still enjoys his job, which he says takes more than just skill with pen and paper.
"The drawing's important and it could take a really good idea home, but the idea is really paramount," he said. "It's kind of an odd mix of skills because you have to be funny and poignant at the same time."
Hundreds of editorial cartoonists would likely agree with Thompson, reaching all the way back through the centuries that the craft has existed to its very infancy.
"William Hogarth is considered the father of modern political caricature or editorial cartoons," said Jenny Dietzen, curator of the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco. "He worked in the first half of the 18th century in England."
Originally, Dietzen said, editorial cartoons were not part of newspapers.
Instead, they were printed on single broadsheets that were sold to the public. It wasn't until the 19th century that newspapers began incorporating editorial cartoons into its daily content.
"Political cartoons actually changed the course of history," she said. "They influence people's points of views and in that way change history."
And now Thompson, whose cartoons are syndicated to more than 400 newspapers, sits in the driver's seat, wielding the power of the pen, ink and speech bubble.
"I think the power that they have is to make people think, to maybe get them to look at an issue in a new light or from a different perspective," he said.
However, he said, "political commentary is everywhere on the Internet and on the late-night standup routines, so I don't think political cartoons wield as big a club as they did a century ago, but it's still an important medium and an important staple of newspapers."
Other editorial cartoonists are also seeing the Web change the dynamics of cartooning and many are planning to make adjustments to embrace the new medium.
"My end goal, I think, is to be sort of half in print and sort of half on the Web," said San Jose Mercury News cartoonist Mark Fiore. "I'd like to sort of keep the print stuff going as long as I can, and then I'd also like to really build up the animated political cartoons that I'm doing.
"The readership of newspapers is dropping, particularly among younger people, so I want to be able to be adaptable."
But until the day comes when newspapers cease to exist, Thompson plans on continuing his work with them.
However, more threatening than newspaper erosion due to the Web are the people who call or e-mail Thompson after a cartoon runs that deals with a particularly inflammatory issue.
"People call you names, people threaten you, get angry," he said. "After doing this for a couple of years, you generally develop pretty thick skin and also an understanding that people certainly have the right to tell you their opinion if you're going to project yours in a public forum."
Constantly repeating news cycles also cause problems for cartoonists like Thompson, challenging his creativity and originality.
"It's hard coming up with funny, witty, unique ideas every day of your life," he lamented. "Charles Schulz (of Peanuts fame) said it's like having a term paper due every day for the rest of your life.
"What do you say this time that you didn't say the previous 200 times? That's the challenge."
(C) 2001 The State News via U-WIRE
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