Dear Editor,
You see local issues unfolding. It may be a county issue; it may be a
school board issue; it may pertain
to your state representative or our Governor.
How many times do you wish that you had a cartoon to place in your editorial section that was pointed and on target to those things that are important to you and your readership?
The problem is that local cartoons are
not syndicatable. Subsequently,
less and less editorial cartoonists have the interest or the time to engage in
local issues.
Are they important? You bet!!!
Think for a moment of an editorial
section that only contains
syndicated columns. The local
politicians get essentially a free ride.
How long would it take for the political structure at the local level to
go out of control? Not long!
That doesn’t mean that I think that
you should not run any
syndicated columns or cartoons.
Quite the contrary. There
needs to be a balance between international issues and those at the local
level.
As an editor, you know how important it
is to provide a context to your readers and the issues that most effect
them. The editorial cartoonist
does a similar task with pictures and few words. To not have local cartoons is roughly the equivalent of not
having a local editorial written about those crucial issues.
To avoid the eight-page letter, I will
cut to the chase. I create
editorial cartoons for both
national and local issues.
You don’t have to come up with the
cartoon—that is my job. If I
know what issues are important to you, and when I have a feel for the issue and
its impact on the community, I can create a cartoon about that.
A sampling of my cartoons are found
throughout the links on this website.
• I
can produce editorial cartoons specific to your publication.
• Having
a publication specific editorial cartoon is an edge over your competition!
Which cartoon are your readers more likely to
remember?
• The
one about George Bush and Iraq, which has been in every paper across the
country…OR
• The
one about your County Commissioners violating the sunshine laws!
Who is more likely to care about this cartoon?
• George
Bush when every publication and talk radio host has said everything that can be
said over the last 24 hours…OR
• Your
City Council that is up for a vote this year and knows that your readers saw
that cartoon too!
How do you put a value on the impact of local
cartoons?
• I
am open to being hired by a publication.
If this is of interest to you contact me at a_ellsworth@yahoo.com
• You
may prefer to use my cartoons only once a week, or at some other interval. That is all right too!
• You
may need a one shot only cartoon and don’t know where to go to have this
done.
What is important is that more newpapers include
local cartoons in the mix. I say
that from the view of a citizen who has seen the impact of local cartoons on
the political dialog.
The key is to have the cartoons to run in conjunction
with the whole of the editorial page and specifically with the editorials by of
the editor of the paper.
Why not consider this invaluable offer? I can and will work it out to your
convenience.
Sincerely,
Al Ellsworth
P.S. Further
questions can be directed to me at: