RSS
Readers passionate about Mallard Fillmore
There many things that appear in a daily newspaper that logically can stir the emotions of readers.
A heart-warming feature story can bring tears to your eyes while a straight news piece on a local government planning to raise your taxes can move you to anger, among other sentiments — some too strong to repeat here.
But rarely does a cartoon create such strong emotions and literally divide a readership. However, Mallard Fillmore seems to be one feature of The Oakland Press that evokes diametrically opposite feelings. You either love the cartoon or you hate it.
Admittedly there are some readers who don’t quite get so upset with each cartoon that gets published but even those people will still form an opinion, pro or con.
For those of you not familiar with Mallard, the feature is a political cartoon that supports Republican and generally conservative issues. It takes some often strong shots at Democrats and liberals.
Consequently, I think you see how the two sides might face off.
I don’t think there are very many Democrats who enjoy the cartoon, although some may be less affected by it than others. But most Democrats that we hear from are adamantly incensed by the cartoon and wish we would drop it. Some even threaten to cancel their subscriptions if we don’t.
On the other hand, as you might expect, we have many Republican readers who just love the cartoon and tell us it’s one of the first things they read in the newspaper. Some also threaten to cancel their subscriptions but that’s if we drop the comic. There are even a few who say the only reason they take The Oakland Press is because of the cartoon. We’d like to think we offer these readers other features that they might enjoy but the bottom line is we’re glad they’re taking the paper.
Politics has always been a divisive issue and it seems today Americans are even further apart than they were a mere 10 or 20 years ago.
So a political cartoon stirring such debate is understandable.
At this point, we are going to continue to publish the cartoon, so we hope our Democratic readers will either ignore the feature or accept it as just being part of the Comic Section.
Whether you like it or hate it, most people would have to admit it's hard to stay impartial when reading it.
A heart-warming feature story can bring tears to your eyes while a straight news piece on a local government planning to raise your taxes can move you to anger, among other sentiments — some too strong to repeat here.
But rarely does a cartoon create such strong emotions and literally divide a readership. However, Mallard Fillmore seems to be one feature of The Oakland Press that evokes diametrically opposite feelings. You either love the cartoon or you hate it.
Admittedly there are some readers who don’t quite get so upset with each cartoon that gets published but even those people will still form an opinion, pro or con.
For those of you not familiar with Mallard, the feature is a political cartoon that supports Republican and generally conservative issues. It takes some often strong shots at Democrats and liberals.
Consequently, I think you see how the two sides might face off.
I don’t think there are very many Democrats who enjoy the cartoon, although some may be less affected by it than others. But most Democrats that we hear from are adamantly incensed by the cartoon and wish we would drop it. Some even threaten to cancel their subscriptions if we don’t.
On the other hand, as you might expect, we have many Republican readers who just love the cartoon and tell us it’s one of the first things they read in the newspaper. Some also threaten to cancel their subscriptions but that’s if we drop the comic. There are even a few who say the only reason they take The Oakland Press is because of the cartoon. We’d like to think we offer these readers other features that they might enjoy but the bottom line is we’re glad they’re taking the paper.
Politics has always been a divisive issue and it seems today Americans are even further apart than they were a mere 10 or 20 years ago.
So a political cartoon stirring such debate is understandable.
At this point, we are going to continue to publish the cartoon, so we hope our Democratic readers will either ignore the feature or accept it as just being part of the Comic Section.
Whether you like it or hate it, most people would have to admit it's hard to stay impartial when reading it.
posted by Allan Adler at
2:05 PM
4 Comments:
It goes beyond a sorry state of affairs when readers will get so upset over a cartoon, let alone threaten to cancel their subscriptions. Anybody with that mentality, pro or con, and it scares me to think of how many of them are out there, most likely aren't capable of thinking for themselves anyway. They need to be led, like sheep, by the partisans of their choice, though I highly doubt they could logically explain their loyalty to one side or the other, if seriously questioned.
Much like many syndicated columnists, be they conservative or liberal, the penner of Mallard Fillmore is merely filling a niche. I suspect he knows his cartoon is controversial, and is making a fortune doing it. And who knows what he really thinks? For all we know, he might be a liberal in his personal life.
The Oakland Press is blameless. After all, they're a business, and they rightfully see this as an opportunity. As long as readers are passionate about something, either way, they will continue to publish it.
If some readers continue to have the thinking ability of a lava lamp, a pet rock, or a cabbage patch doll, then the OP is doing nothing more than following P.T. Barnum's proven adage. There's a sucker born every minute.
Personally, I see Mallard Fillmore for exactly what it is. A cartoon. I could get no more upset over that than I could over Nancy and Sluggo having an argument.
I read your blog once in a while. Can you guess who I am?
A comic strip is something that is supposed to be found entertaining by the majority of readers. As I recall, Mallard Filmore was moved from the comics page to the opinion page, maybe less than a year ago, because of numerous complaints about its content. It is blatantly political, and deliberately offensive to those on the political left. Either balance it on the comics page with a political cartoon that is equally offensive to those on the political right, or leave it on the opinion page where it belongs.
The powers that be at the Oakland Press are running a right wing cartoon, at least for now, because Oakland County, where their paper is predominantly distributed, is by and large politically dominated by Republicans, from Louis Brooks Patterson on down to the majority of their readers, as is evidenced by many of the letters they receive and publish. Conversely, if the citizenship in the county ever swings to the left, the people they elect would reflect the same, and the Oakland Press would fall in line accordingly; Millard Fillmore would quickly disappear, to be replaced by something more liberally oriented. In this sense, the Oakland Press is like a barber. It all depends on who's sitting in his chair getting a hair cut. If it's a man of the cloth, the barber will talk one way. If it's a neighborhood thug that can't utter two words without cursing, the barber will speak quite differently. The barber wants both of them to keep frequenting his business, and hence making a living, so he goes with the flow at the time. Should the preacher and goon both show up simultaneously, the barber will play diplomat, and steer the conversation to neutral ground, at least until one of them leaves. I suspect the Oakland Press is no different. Like the barber, no one knows their true feelings. While a comparison of the Oakland Press to what's been said to be the oldest vocation in the history of mankind could be made, for now, the barber will do. After all, like both, they're just trying to survive in a tough world.
Many of us read both the opinion section of the newspaper and the comics section. Apparently some readers don't like to mix humor with opinion. Very well then, Mallard Fillmore is now in the comics section because that is where humor belongs.
May I suggest we move the delusionally hilarious E.J. Dionne to the comics section next?
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home