Newspaper Cartoons: Why They Exist
Have any idea why newspapers print a full page of cartoons every day when they bring in no money?
It is more revenue-producing than you may think.
Newspaper comics create loyalty, and usually while the reader is very young and reads nothing but the comics. Newspaper publishers are not ignorant, and they know loyalty sells papers and circulation sells advertising.
Cartoons in many ways are news. They are what could be called extreme editing. They often reflect current news events and do so in a very ingenius way, with a graphic and a few words.
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.
Comics have a powerful psychological effect and if we find one or two we like, we will surprise even ourselves at the fact that we will buy that paper on a daily basis, simply for our favorite comics.
Most newspaper editors now know that their market demographic is usually very mixed. Whereas once only family-friendly comics were found in most papers, now one will find dark humor, many in the spirit of Gary Larson’s Far Side.
Peanuts Creator Charles “Sparky″ Shulz put comics on the map. He was not a great artist, but he knew what we wanted.
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.
It is not well-known, but most cartoonists do not make the bulk of their money from newspaper publishing. It is from licensed products such as greeting cards, books, t-shirts, calendars and the like.
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.
