Why Newspapers Run Cartoons

Newspapers run a full page called "the comics page" in which they receive no revenue. Why do they do it?

Comics do bring newspapers money. They simply do so in a different way than news pages.

Even though ad sales is the bread and butter of nearly all periodicals, most publishers understand that building loyalty and building it when the reader is young is mandatory.

Though journalists are highly trained professionals, cartoonists are the backbone of any paper. They can tell a full page story in a box. They can focus on current events or remain generic, but they are still telling a story.

We are all creatures of habit. If we start reading a local daily paper at age six, due to the comics, we probably wll still be reading the same paper at age 56.

A reader also knows, whether subconsciously or not that if laughter happens early in the day, it can affect the whole mood of the day. And if it is a really good cartoon, it is one that others may have seen and can be talked about at the water cooler or Starbuck's before work.

A savvy newspaper wants a majority of cartoons to be "family-friendly" but also wants a mix of "somewhat controversial" or "different", though certainly reader-friendly to offset and appeal to college and post-grad level readers who may only have time to skim the paper, but will always go straight to their favorite cartoon, often before reading the news.

If not for Peanuts by the late great Charles Schulz, newspaper comics would probably not be so well-read or talked about. What did Charles know that other cartoonists did not?

Charlie Brown was created by Schulz to show us our "inner loser". We all know, no matter how famous or successful we become, that inner-loser remains. Charlie Brown helped us laugh at ourselves by expressing it for us.

Gary Larson drew what he felt we were thinking. It was offbeat, and it had a cynical and distorted look at the world. But he knew in his mind we would not find it so distorted at all. In fact, the world really was distorted and he simply knew how to point it out to us with The Far Side.

Many cartoonists have tried to reach the level of another Peanuts or Far Side. It is not an easy task. Schulz had an inventory of tens of thousands of strips over the years and Larson had over 5000 before retiring. Both capitalized on licensing their products onto calendars, greeting cards, mugs, and other products.

Cartooning is not just an art but a science and a shrewd business, following trends and knowing what newspaper readers want. It is all and well that the cartoon may be funny and/or well drawn, but to the savvy newspaper editor or publisher, is it attracting the loyalty of an influential audience? If it is, it is worth its weight in thousands of full-page ads, simply because eventually it will be attracting them, not to mention more readership.

Article Source: http://www.share.onlypunjab.com

Cartoon gifts and collectibles is becoming a valuable commodity surpassing the stock market for over 43 years. One of the best places to buy the best collectibles is , and cartoon t-shirts

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated