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Title: Cartoonist says his work got him axed
Source:
The DesMoines Register
URL Source: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st ... is-work-got-him-axed/83841760/
Published: May 3, 2016
Author: Donnelle Eller
Post Date: 2016-05-03 10:42:07 by Willie Green
Keywords: None
Views: 6177
Comments: 33
A northern Iowa freelance cartoonist says he was fired for drawing an editorial cartoon that bemoaned Iowa farmers' dwindling profits while CEOs at large agricultural corporations earn millions of dollars.
Rick Friday of Lorimor said on his Facebook page that Farm News, a weekly publication of The Fort Dodge Messenger, dropped him as the publication's editorial cartoonist after a company affiliated with one of three large corporations he portrayed in his cartoon complained, pulling its advertising.
In last week's "It's Friday" cartoon, Friday said the CEOs of Deere & Co., Monsanto Co. and DuPont Pioneer made more money than 2,129 Iowa farmers last year.
A large affiliated company "was insulted and canceled their advertisement with the paper, thus, resulting in the reprimand of my editor and cancellation of 'It's Friday' cartoons," wrote Friday, who worked 21 years for Farm News, publishing 1,090 cartoons.
Cartoonist Rick Friday says this cartoon cost him his job with Farm News after one of the corporations he criticized pulled its advertising. (Photo: Rick Friday)
The CEOs at the ag giants earned about $52.9 million last year, based on Morningstar data. Monsanto and DuPont, the parent of Johnston-based Pioneer, are large seed and chemical companies, and Deere is a large farm equipment manufacturer.
Profits for the three companies, all with large operations across Iowa, also have declined as farm income has been squeezed. After peaking in 2013, U.S. farm income this year is projected to fall to $183 billion, its lowest level since 2002.
Publisher Larry Bushman said he couldn't say Monday why Farm News would no longer run Friday's cartoons, adding that it was an editorial decision.
Farm News Editor Larry Kershner said he couldn't comment about the decision.
Friday said his cartoon was based on facts. "Hopefully, my children and my grandchildren will see that this last cartoon published … will shine a light on how fragile our rights to free speech and free press really are in the country," said Friday, who also raises cattle.
DuPont and Monsanto officials said the companies were unaware of the cartoon until the media brought it to their attention. A Deere spokesman wasn't immediately available Monday to comment.
Monsanto's Christi Dixon said the St. Louis-based company has no interest in shutting down farm discussions.
"We respect various viewpoints and want to be open to dialogue. We're interested in finding common ground," said Dixon, adding the company recently hosted a vocal critic of the company's genetically modified seeds at its headquarters.
Farm News is delivered to 24,000 homes in 33 counties in northwest Iowa. The Fort Dodge Messenger is owned by Ogden Newspapers, based in West Virginia. (1 image)
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 25.
"dropped him as the publication's editorial cartoonist after a company affiliated with one of three large corporations he portrayed in his cartoon complained, pulling its advertising."
How stupid do you have to be to insult an advertiser -- by name -- and expect them to keep spending money on your piddly-ass newspaper?
Second, it wasn't funny. He should be fired for that alone.
And third, he's comparing apples and oranges. Those are farm suppliers, not farmers. If farmers want to make more profit then let them start up a company like John Deere, Monsanto, or DuPont.
#17. To: misterwhite (#1)
Second, it wasn't funny. He should be fired for that alone.
But evidently it was the truth.
Can't have newspapers actually publishing THAT though now can we Uncle Whitey!
#20. To: VxH (#17)
"But evidently it was the truth."
Sure, but it's irrelevant. Might as well compare the profits from farming to Nike's profits and cite how unfair that is.
I live in the country surrounded by farms. In the spring, farmers disk the soil, fertilize and plant. Takes maybe a week, depending on the acreage.
In the summer they hire a commercial company to spray the crops with Roundup to keep down the weeds. In the fall they harvest and take the crops to the local storage bins. Maybe two weeks for that.
They're out there in the fields in their monster tractors maybe three weeks out of the year. I live it. I see it.
Keep in mind -- the farms are handed down in the family, as is the farm equipment. They provide the labor. Their profit may be small, but it's not bad for three weeks work.
Farmers are my neighbors. They're good people. They'll drop whatever they're doing to give you a hand. They're honest and friendly.
But let's forget the notion that they're out there 365 days a year bent over a rake and hoe and earning next to nothing.
#22. To: misterwhite (#20) (Edited)
They're out there in the fields in their monster tractors maybe three weeks out of the year. I live it. I see it.
My wife comes from a family of farmers.
How 'bout you tell the class about the cozy arrangement between economics of scale, the price of seeds, the cost of lawsuits when somebodies Patented GMO pollen pollutes the neighborhood, and the government loans required to keep the whole charade afloat?
Throw in the reality of what would happen in the event of a drought that's a fraction as long as the one that created the Nebraska Sand Hills.
Followed by a monumental "oops" from the Corn kings.
#23. To: VxH (#22)
"Throw in the reality of what would happen in the event of a drought"
Thank heavens for crop insurance, huh?
"somebodies Patented GMO pollen pollutes the neighborhood"
90% of farmers use GMO seeds. They don't "pollute" any more than non-GMO farms "pollute".
#25. To: misterwhite (#23) (Edited)
Thank heavens for crop insurance, huh?
How long was the drought that created the Sand Hills super genius?
Monoculture = Monumental Short-sighted Stupidity. The farmers I know who are trapped in the system admit that's true. They have to farm more irrigated acres of corn, to pay for the seed and machines that are required to make the payments... so they can farm more irrigated acres of corn....
Your crop "insurance" will be even more worthless than AIG's underwriting of the subprime derivative A$$Paper presently circling the vortex of the global economic sewage pond.
How's Tommy Daschle's mandated Ethanol cabal doing these days?
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