Papers pull ‘Doonesbury’ — but must satire really be ‘fair’?

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It’s time to play “You Are the Editor.” Your most debated decision today does not concern Iran or Pakistan or the design of your paper’s new iPad app, but rather whether to run a comic strip that includes book excerpts that render a public figure in a negative light. For sake of this exercise, let’s say you haven't secured an advance copy of the tell-all bio being excerpted. You either run the strips — excerpts and all — or you take a pass, at least until you can read the book and conduct your own “verification.” What would you do?

At least two newspapers — the Chicago Tribune and Newsday (both Tribune Co.-owned) — decided not to run this week's “Doonesbury,” which, in a “first serial arrangement,” includes excerpts from Joe McGinniss’ soon-to-be-published biography of former Alaska guv Sarah Palin. (Update: The Atlanta Journal Constitution reportedly pulled “Doonesbury’s” Palin-story strips as of Tuesday.)


Papers pull ‘Doonesbury’ — but must satire really be ‘fair’?