Fired cartoonist expresses concern over Trump influence on news outlets

Rob Rogers, an editorial cartoonist fired in June by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, expressed concern over President Trump’s growing influence over news outlets at a July 19 National Press Club Journalism Institute event.

Rogers, a 25-year veteran of the Pittsburgh paper, said he was fired after a new editor overseeing the editorial page killed 18 of his cartoons or ideas that were critical of Trump. The paper, which he said had always been left-leaning, began changing after the publisher became “enamored“ with Trump, Rogers said.

While Rogers said during most of his career he had “total freedom” with few cartoons killed each year, that changed when both the publisher and editorial editor began critiquing his work, calling his ideas “too malicious” or “not funny.“ They wanted him to change his positions and reflect the philosophy of the newspaper, Rogers said, adding they thought they could do that by bullying him and killing his cartoons.

Ann Telnaes, an editorial cartoonist at The Washington Post, who joined Rogers at the event, said that the job of editorial cartoonists is to hold leaders, politicians, and institutions accountable. She said editorial cartoonists have to have their own point of view, just like other journalists who write for the editorial page, and “we should be allowed to do that.”

Rogers said the paper's action has broader implications and illustrates the state of the media today. It implies “the government could have an influence over what people talk about” in the media.

“It’s about suppressed opinions on the editorial page and what that means for the readers,” he said.

Rogers said he takes comfort in First Amendment protections for journalists in the United States, but worries about the erosion of those rights.

“We now have a president who calls us the enemy of the people," he said. "Now he is having an influence over certain news outlets, including I think mine, and that becomes frightening because we are only one step away from what’s next—being jailed or persecuted for what you are doing. That is a lot stronger than just losing your job."