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Politics and
the Big Show
In
our country, we have the chance to vote on everything that truly
matters. I am grateful to live in such a democracy, even
though it is far from perfect. It sure beats the systems of
government many countries have.
One of the crazy things that goes along with our system
of government is the Big Show: the campaign trail song-n-dance
routines. No carnival sideshow ever offered more gags or more
slight of hand.
Campaign speeches and TV ads, newspaper ads, radio ads,
billboards, all combine to make for some funny stuff. It's best
not to take the campaign promises and threats too seriously.
It's better to be aware of the real issues at stake.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not wanting to spoil the
fun. By all means, have a good time and enjoy the show.
But make sure you do your homework before you vote. And may the
best candidates and issues win.
Jim
Comic strips have been a part of newspaper
publishing since the last half of the 1800's. Comics were added to
newspapers to help increase sales of the paper. Some claim that
the Yellow Kid, the first color comic (1986/87) eventually lead to the
derogatory term "yellow journalism." Anything's possible, I
suppose. Since many comic strips are humorous, we often call
them "The Funnies" or "The Funny Pages." At one time in America,
it was popular to joke with a friend when parting, saying, "See you in the
Funny Papers!"
Comics add readers.
Believe it or not comics are one of the
most important features
for any newspaper, regardless of its size. Lots of people (including yours truly) will often read the comics before
anything else. In fact, even the most specialized and serious
periodicals, including magazines devoted to medical research and
political rhetoric, include cartoons and comic strips. You definitely want to include comic strips and other features in your
small newspaper.
How to Find Comics and Other Features
You can find comics and other popular
features by contacting the syndication services, such as
United
Features (Peanuts, Dilbert),
or
King
Features (Spiderman, Crock, Family Circus), and
others. All the big services are on the web. Do an
internet search
(with Google,
MSN,
YAHOO, for example) using the name of the comic strip or feature that you'd like to
include in your paper. You may need to use additional words such
as "features," or "comic" or "newspaper" in your search, if the agency
doesn't show up on the first couple of pages. |
