Saint John — Over the past week, the infamous termination of one cartoonist at Brunswick News — and now the sudden resignation of his replacement — have left New Brunswick newspapers without any editorial cartoon staff.
While some may miss the cartoon commentaries during this upheaval, New Brunswickers who only consume news in cartoon format suddenly are finding themselves in an information vacuum.
“I don’t own a TV, but I go cover to cover through the paper every single day!” said senior Illy Tarrat. “First, I start with the obituaries of course, then I see what’s on sale, and look at all of the pictures. I save the comics for the last, I just love them.”
When asked if she ever reads the actual newspaper articles, Tarrat grimaced.
“Like a lot of people — the President for example — I’m not much of a ‘reader,'” she said, making air quotes with her fingers. “I don’t get into those long walls of text, uggh. I find it all very boring, most of the time it has nothing to do with me.
“But I never miss those spicy editorial cartoons!” said Tarrat. “It’s usually related to some hot topic in the local news, and that gives me something to talk about with the girls. But, I’ve had nothing to chat about over cards since the news cartoons disappeared.”
Tarrat was asked if she tried getting local news on radio. “Do they even have news on radio anymore?” she replied. “Maybe the boring CBC? Marjorie listens to that stuff, and she’s always prattling on about it. I don’t like classical music so don’t get me started on that.”
Not satisfied with her cartoon media blackout, Tarrat is considering other sources of cartoon news. “I suppose I could try out that Insta-face on the computer with all of the fake news. I tried Snap-Chatter on my granddaughter’s phone but it just made me look like a puppy dog with a long tongue!
“But really, I’m not that worried. As long as Trump is in the White House, I’ll always have a politician to rant about,” she laughed.