A Toronto-based design studio has decided not to pay for a designer, and is calling on readers to step in to make the paper’s future.
The Globe and the Mail announced Tuesday it is discontinuing its editorial cartoonist program, effective Jan. 1.
“We are ending our cartoonist’s program, which is part of a broader initiative to align our editorial style and mission with our mission,” a statement said.
“The program is a collaboration with industry experts, our talented editorial staff, and our editorial board, who are committed to delivering high-quality editorial content that reflects our core values of diversity, accuracy, respect and inclusion.
The program was designed to help us better understand and address a growing set of challenges in our newsroom, and to ensure that our staff and editorial team will be equipped to meet those challenges.”
It’s the latest twist in a newsroom that has been rocked by sexual misconduct allegations against senior staffers, and the departure of a former chief news editor.
The Globe’s sister publication the Globe & Mail announced in February that the paper was changing its name to The Globe and a new owner would take over the paper.
The paper will continue to be run by The Globe News Group, a consortium of media companies led by News Corp., News Corp.’s parent company.
The decision to stop paying for a cartoonist is a blow to the Globe, which has already lost some staff in the last year.
The company has been losing subscribers and advertising revenue.
And it’s been struggling with its website.
In January, the Globe’s news editor, Andrew Ross Sorkin, left the paper to take the position of executive editor at the New York Times.
The announcement came after several women came forward alleging sexual harassment.
The newsroom also announced it would stop publishing editorial cartoons on the front page, in response to a lawsuit brought by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).
The lawsuit claims the cartoons promote discrimination against transgender people and women.
The move comes after a series of allegations of sexual harassment against Sorkins staff, including the claim that he sexually harassed two staffers, including one who claimed he kissed her while he was on a trip to Europe.
The company also announced in January that it would shutter its Toronto headquarters, and relocate its Toronto offices to New York City.
The move, which the Globe has resisted, is expected to cost the company up to $100 million in lost revenue.
“There are several things going on here,” said NCLR spokesman Jason Farrar.
“We’ve got to get on with our day job, which we’re going to continue to do.”
The decision was met with anger on social media, where people condemned the decision to shut down the Globe.
Some of the responses to the decision are below.
Some readers responded to the news by expressing their disappointment with the decision:The Globe has a lot of fans, but I would be interested in a suggestion of what would be a more appropriate editorial cartoon that was funded by the community or the newsroom.
— Joe (@joe_lucas) February 11, 2021The Globe should not be in the news business at all, but its cartoons are a huge part of its identity.
We should have an editorial cartoon program and an editorial board that would have an opportunity to make recommendations for a new editorial cartoon, not just a one-off cartoon.
— Dan S. (@DanSVegas) January 18, 2021AFAIK, the current cartoonist who was laid off in January, will be back on the job on Jan. 29.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, the former editor said he plans to keep working at the newspaper for another year.
The Toronto Star is still paying former cartoonist Matt Fogg $15,000 a month for his work.
