Interesting article re: 'Boondocks,' political comic strips (Boston Globe)

Controversial comics raise serious dilemmas

By Mark Jurkowitz, Globe Staff, 10/22/2003

http://www.boston.com/ae/media/articles/2003/10/22/controversial_comics_raise_serious_dilemmas/

In an unprecedented move that angered readers and generated industry criticism, The Washington Post recently killed an entire week of "The Boondocks" comic strip with a story line suggesting the world might be a safer place if national security adviser Condoleezza Rice had a more active love life.

Addressing the subject in his column, Post ombudsman Michael Getler quoted executive editor Leonard Downie Jr.'s view that the strip "violated our standards for taste, fairness and invasion of privacy," before adding his dissenting opinion. "Boondocks" creator Aaron McGruder was "being mischievous and irreverent . . . about a high profile public figure," Getler declared. "And that seems okay to me."

The Post controversy is the latest in a growing cluster of recent cases in which newspapers have opted to kill comic strips that are deemed offensive. In September, a number of publications chose not to publish a "Doonesbury" installment that dealt with masturbation. Earlier this year, The Boston Globe passed on an edition of "Boondocks" -- a strip known for stinging social, racial, and political commentary -- that featured an antiwar protest message over the usual drawing space. In a similar vein, The Chicago Tribune killed a "Boondocks" strip that lampooned President Bush's "bring 'em on" message to anti-US fighters in Iraq.

They used to be called the funny pages. But it's no laughing matter for editors deciding whether such edgy and politically tinged strips as "Doonesbury," "Boondocks," and "Mallard Fillmore" violate boundaries of taste. Nor for readers who often respond to decisions to omit strips with angry cries of censorship since they can now go online to see what they were missing.

At the core of the issue is a bit of a paradox. While many observers believe the provocative strips belong on the comics pages, the consensus is that they are subject to tighter scrutiny because they appear in a more benign environment than the more freewheeling opinion pages. And some industry officials wish newspapers would be more willing to push the envelope when it comes to humor.

...more...

it when talking about some actress's "booty".

It's not like they are saying she needs to get laid, let alone well-f****d.

ever been nixed?

n/t

But really, the one I'm missing from the Trib the most is Making It.

He damn well sure would have run it if Madeline Albright had been the focus of the script.