Editor&Publisher: 'Wash Post' Cartoonist Mocks Own Paper Over Obama Story
By Greg Mitchell, with Dave Astor
Published: November 30, 2007
NEW YORK Tom Toles, the Pulitzer-winning editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post, has never been afraid to take on his own paper's coverage in the past (as E&P has documented) and he does it again today, joining a blogosphere chorus of critics of a story about Barack Obama. Toles told E&P today he had received no negative reaction from Post editors so far. He said this is the latest example of the creative freedom given him by the Post, which often publishes editorial content (on topics such as the Iraq War) more conservative than the cartoonist's views.
It all started yesterday with a front-page story by Perry Bacon that, to many readers, seemed to needlessly -- not to say, unfairly -- play up completely unfounded rightwing rumors about Sen. Obama. The piece opened: "In his speeches and often on the Internet, the part of Sen. Barack Obama's biography that gets the most attention is not his race but his connections to the Muslim world.
"Since declaring his candidacy for president in February, Obama, a member of a congregation of the United Church of Christ in Chicago, has had to address assertions that he is a Muslim or that he had received training in Islam in Indonesia, where he lived from ages 6 to 10. While his father was an atheist and his mother did not practice religion, Obama's stepfather did occasionally attend services at a mosque there.
"Despite his denials, rumors and e-mails circulating on the Internet continue to allege that Obama (D-Ill.) is a Muslim, a 'Muslim plant' in a conspiracy against America...."
The Toles cartoon shows a reader looking at an article in an unnamed paper with the headline: "Obama's eating of vegetables fuels rumors about him." The text of the story reads: "Barack Obama doesn't hide his enjoyment of peas and beans, fueling Internet rumors that he's a jihadist vegetarian who will take the oath of office with his hand on a slab of damp tofu.
"He denies the rumors, but sure does eat a lof of vegetables, including tofu at times, and the real significance of the rumors is how they will hurt him if they get repeated enough.
"INSIDE: Are the rumors true? More discussion of them first."
The usual tiny character in the right corner of the panel comments: "So much discussion they ran out of space for the word LIES."
What did the real-life Toles think of the Post story? "I would prefer my cartoon to speak for me on that," Toles told E&P. "It included pretty much everything I wanted to say."...
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003679602
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