Notre Dame Indy Newspaper Staff Apologizes For Loathesome Cartoon

Staffers for The Observer, an independent newspaper covering the Notre Dame and St. Mary's campuses in South Bend, Indiana, has apologized for a cartoon that made light of violence against gay and lesbians. That cartoon ran last Wednesday, and featured the following joke made by a cartoon saw talking to a young person holding what looks like alcohol:

Saw: "What's the easiest way to turn a fruit into a vegetable?"
Young Person: "No idea."
Saw: "A baseball bat."

The strip was titled "The Mobile Party," although it's unclear whether that is this individual strip or a more general strip title (it seems likely it's a recurring feature). The cartoon in question sports a byline from Colin Hofman, Jay Wade and Lauren Rosemeyer. Those three penned an apology that ran with the editorial apology in Friday's edition, and there are intimations in some of the press coverage that it was intended as a satire on such attitudes rather than an express love letter, although that line of think isn't developed anywhere I can find and doesn't seem very convincing. Or excusable.

The newspapers's Editor-in-Chief has since claimed she was not in the office when the decision to run the cartoon was made, and that the editorial staff reaction was immediate and internal rather than instigated by outside complaints. An internal review of the situation is underway. It's also been revealed since the initial publication that the original punchline was "AIDS." Notre Dame President John Jenkins condemned the cartoon in a statement last week. I take it from the description of the newspaper as independent that it's not under either university's direct control, although it might be interesting to see if any funding is made available to them and if this is targeted by groups that might be unsatisfied with the apology and assurances of last week.
 
posted 7:00 am PST | Permalink
 

---

 
Daily Blog Archives
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
 
Full Archives