King No Longer Syndicating Scott Bateman's Editorial Cartoons

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King No Longer Syndicating Scott Bateman's Editorial Cartoons

By Dave Astor

Published: March 29, 2005 2:05 PM ET

NEW YORK Editorial cartoonist Scott Bateman and King Features Syndicate have parted ways.

Bateman was one of about a dozen editorial cartoonists in "The Best and the Wittiest" package distributed by King. He said the syndicate was "using fewer and fewer of my cartoons, and especially shying away from the harder-hitting ones" -- including a March 20 cartoon pointing out the hypocrisy of President Bush and many Republicans in the Terri Schiavo case.

King Editor in Chief Jay Kennedy, when contacted by E&P, said in a statement: "Contrary to misconceptions expressed in some online discussions, Scott Bateman and King Features did not part ways because King Features objected to his political stances. 'The Best and the Wittiest' purposefully offers a range of divergent editorial views. King Features and Scott Bateman parted ways at his behest because he was unhappy with how few of his cartoons were being used."

Kennedy added: "Scott is a talented guy. His editorial pieces expressed a lot of carefully thought-through views, but they are lengthy and are better described as illustrated editorial columns than as editorial cartoons. The larger sizes required to legibly print Scott's pieces are a problem for many daily newspapers."

Bateman's March 20 cartoon showed a woman saying, in part: "The recent bankruptcy bill that Bush supports will make it nearly impossible for families that suffer a major illness or injury like Terri Schiavo's to ever get back on their feet again. ... The tort-reform bill that the president wants would put an end to malpractice claims like the one that's paid for Terri Schiavo's care all these years. ... And when he was governor of Texas, Bush himself signed a law that gives hospitals the right to remove life support if the patient can't pay." So, the cartoon concluded, Bush and many Republicans are interested in "the culture of life ... only when it doesn't interfere" with the desires of big companies such as the ones that supported the above three pieces of legislation.


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