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August 15, 2005
Now THAT'S How You Defend A Cartoon!
[In June, a cartoon by Ed Hall (above) about sexual abuse of minors at a local church camp created a firestorm of protest after getting spread around the internet. The paper received numerous letters from self-professed christians around the country demanding an apology “to christians everywhere” for the cartoon.
Hall’s editor, Jim McGauley, stood firmly by the cartoonist, and a columnist at The Baker County Press wrote the following commentary.]
By Michael Rinker
I can handle the insults contained in the letters to the editor printed elsewhere
on this page.
Despicable. Ignorant. Rude. Cheap. Unkind.
Like I haven’t heard those words a million times. And that’s just from my mom.
I didn’t draw the cartoon that offended so many of our God-fearing readers (I wish I had, it’s a great piece of journalism), but a newspaper is a team effort so I’ll address the criticisms.
First let me say that political cartoons have a honored place in the history of journalism. And our guy, Ed Hall, is a nationally respected cartoonist. Few small papers are lucky enough to have somebody of his stature doing cartoons on local issues.
Now about those letters (actually e-mails). It was obviously an organized effort. We didn’t print every missive, but nearly all come from the same place and a lot of the wording is the same, as are the paranoid misrepresentations of what the cartoon is about.
Therefore, we can ignore the old newsroom adage that one letter to the editor represents the views of 1000 people.
In this case, I’m guessing that the many letters represent the efforts of a couple of people.
One of the common themes is that the newspaper owes an apology to the “Christian community” or “every born-again Christian.”
Why? The cartoon was directed at Camp Tracey and its owner, the Harvest Baptist Church.
The fact that the church and camp are run by Christians doesn’t mean that Ed Hall or The Press was “attacking Christians and Baptists,” as one letter-writer claims.
That’s like me demanding an apology from all the commentators who condemned and ridiculed Michael Jackson during his molestation trial. After all, he and I are alike in so many ways other than having the same first name. For instance, we’re both middle-aged white guys trying desperately to recapture our lost youth.
What our letter-writers are doing is making a false argument, trumping up the issue in an effort to play to readers’ emotions.
There is a name for this particular logical fallacy, but it’s been so long since I had studied rhetoric in college, I forget what it is. Let’s put it this way: They easily could have argued that it’s unfair to Camp Tracey that the paper printed allegations of sexual and physical abuse made in the lawsuit filed by former residents of the camp.
That’s a legitimate argument and an issue worthy of debate. In fact, we’d welcome that kind of discourse. (Call now for details!) In addition, the letter-writers still could have aired their objections to the cartoon, but without the misleading hyperbole.
They’re entitled to their opinions, and as a newspaper we have a professional obligation (within reason) to print their letters, even if they’re critical of us. In fact, especially because they’re critical of us.
But claiming that the paper is attacking Baptists, Christians and born-again Christians is ridiculous.
Hey, some of my best friends are Christians.
And so’s my mom.