Margulies responds

Image via Wikipedia

Cartoonist Jimmy Margulies has commented on my previous post:

Jimmy Margulies has left a new comment on your post "Is Margulies a journalist?":

"The image in the cartoon today was of a corkscrew on the Swiss army knife symbolizing Governor Christie's budget cuts for the poor and the middle class. Yes, the wealthy in New Jersey should be celebrating that they get a tax break while everyone else gets a cut of some kind.

"As far as the image of a corkscrew, what difference does it make that the Borgs have an interest in a wine bar, or a former problem with alcohol? Their personal lives should have no bearing on the content of my editorial cartoons.

"Making such a comment under the heading IS MARGULIES A JOURNALIST? is truly ironic if you think I should censor myself based on the owners' private interests. IS Sasson a journalist -- not a very smart one when it comes to making ill-advised statements like that."

"Eye on The Record" says:

My problem wasn't so much with the link to the Borgs' personal interests. I was troubled with the ambiguity of the image used in the cartoon. The cartoon can be interpreted two ways, so it doesn't accomplish the job of commenting on a crucial state issue. A journalist seeks clarity, not ambiguity. If I was still working as a news copy editor and still proofing Margulies' cartoons, I would have made my views known.

Unfortunately, the level of news copy editing at The Record of Woodland Park has declined dramatically, and stories, columns, cartoons, headlines and whatever go into the paper as they are created -- despite accuracy, ambiguity or other weaknesses.