THE COMICS page seems like one of The Cavalier Daily's more popular sections, but I must confess I generally don't pay much attention to it.
That's by no means an indictment of the quality of the comics. I just never thought the newspaper would print anything on the Comics page that I would have to worry about as ombudsman. Unfortunately, I've been given some reasons in the last few weeks to pay closer attention.
The week before winter break, a couple of readers wrote angry letters to the editor ("An unfunny subject" and "No laughing matter," Dec. 8) about a comic strip that featured the infamous photo of a South Vietnamese general executing a captured Viet Cong soldier. In mid-February, another reader ("Reconsider Redux," Feb. 23) complained about a "stupid and offensive" strip that involved an oral sex joke.
The latest controversy on the Comics page came up Feb. 28. All 10 strips that day looked exactly alike but contained different dialogue. Nine of the strips were based on Bob Wiley's "Congo Square," which some of the cartoonists and at least one reader ("Tasteful statement," Mar. 3) apparently thought was about sexual assault.
First of all, Wiley assured me that the punch line of the strip had nothing to do with sexual assault. I realize I'm about to sound as funny as Sean Penn at the Academy Awards, but the final frame was supposed to imply the character's girlfriend was really ugly. I'm sure some of the paper's readers still don't like the joke. I bet they'd agree, however, that's a whole lot less offensive than what some people thought the strip was suggesting.
The larger issue here is how The Cavalier Daily allowed its other cartoonists to respond to Wiley's comic.
Editor-in-Chief Patrick Harvey told me the cartoonists will occasionally participate in "comic wars" in which they make fun of each other's strips. Wiley admitted he has willingly participated in a couple of them, but from what he said, they have always had a lighthearted tone. Something about this latest comic war didn't seem playful.
With some degree of organization, the other cartoonists took Wiley's Feb. 28 strip and replaced it with dialogue of their own. In several cases, that new dialogue contained personal attacks on one of their fellow cartoonists for creating what many of them appeared to think was an offensive comic. The Mar. 3 letter to the editor praised the cartoonists for being "rightfully offended" by Wiley's strip.
Clearly, the cartoonists and some readers felt the strip contained offensive material. If the Graphics editors or the Managing Board believed it was offensive, they never should have published it. Instead, the cartoonists and the higher-ups who approved the page publicly embarrassed Wiley.
Several of The Cavalier Daily's staff members handled this situation in anything but a professional manner. That's disappointing given that the staff's professionalism has consistently impressed me this year.
I have tried hard as The Cavalier Daily's ombudsman not to act as the arbiter of what crosses the line into tastelessness. The Federal Communication Commission has taken that role with television and radio broadcasters and made them scared to air anything the least bit controversial or provocative. A college newspaper should enable the free flow of ideas whenever possible, and I don't plan to stand in the way of that mission.
Editors, however, must decide whether something is so offensive that it absolutely can't run. Harvey mentioned to me that he has prevented a few comics from reaching the inside pages of The Cavalier Daily. But the Feb. 28 Comics page and the prior complaints indicate the paper needs to establish a firm procedure for handling potentially offensive material.
The Cavalier Daily's policy manual sets rules and guidelines for nearly every department. When I scanned over it, I noticed it contains no mention of comic strips. Now might be a good time for the Graphics editors and the Managing Board to revisit the manual. They should avoid drawing a hard line in the manual between what is and is not offensive, but they should establish some procedure for making that decision.
Jeremy Ashton can be reached at ombud@cavalierdaily.com.
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