Newspapers Make No Money On The Comics Page. Why Do They Do It?

Have any idea why newspapers print a full page of cartoons every day when they bring in no money?

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

Newspaper owners and publishers have known for years that the time to "hook" the reader is at an early age. They know that though the newspaper keeps the same name, journalists will change, quality of writing will change, advertisers will come and go, but to keep a newspaper alive, it needs loyalty.

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.

A reader who started reading a paper years ago, may not even be consciously aware that the quality of the paper has gone down (or up), but he/she does know that a cartoon will be there that will make them laugh.

The publisher and editor also knows that even after loyalty has been created, the average reader wants some comic relief as most news is bad news. If the reading gets too rough, he/she can always flip a few pages to the comics and smile.

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.

Cartoons also can be very influential. Charles "Sparky" Schulz knew that when creating "Peanuts".

Schulz knew that no matter how famous or successful we got, we still were in touch with that little boy/girl loser inside all of us as a child. He produced Charlie Brown to reflect that "inner loser". It worked.

Gary Larson's Far Side capitalized on the niche that though there were many cartoons available in newspapers, not many, if any, were reaching the more intellectual public. Larson was keenly aware that newspapers would try anything to lure intellect, which often reflected more education, hence more income, hence more advertising.

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.

By: Rick London

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