Will Winnipeg Free Press Drop Scott Adam's Dilbert?

Hundreds of newspapers have dropped Scott Adam's Dilbert. The announcement came from Gannet and the USA Today group late afternoon Friday.  It was too late to stop the colour comics in most newspapers Saturday and Sunday in North America but many will not be running the strip as of Monday.

Scott Adams has increasingly taken aim at things politically both in his his strip and in commentary, including his YouTube contributions. Most cartoon artists have something in their art that can end up offending. Even beloved cartoon artists such as Dr. Seuss or Warner Bros. Looney Tunes have art or script now that would not make the cut now because it is offensive. Some might call it "woke" but "blackface" humour today is widely recognized as unacceptable. When Justin Trudeau dressed in blackface, he had some explaining to do, mostly saying he didn't intend to offend. However, his defence would not have been accepted had he said the critics were "woke." 

Humour has a full range of logic and emotion behind it, Stand-up comedy is today's equivalent of philosophy but with belly laughs. If it doesn't challenge, it falls flat. Still, there is a sense when humour moves towards hatred, bullying, intolerance, privilege and cruelty, it crosses a line And for the person behind the art to delve into anger, it hard to be part of their world.

This week on Scott Adam's YouTube broadcast, he is quoted as saying: 

“If nearly half of all Blacks are not OK with White people – according to this poll, not according to me, according to this poll – that’s a hate group,” Adams said Wednesday on his YouTube show “Real Coffee with Scott Adams.”

“I don’t want to have anything to do with them,” Adams added. “And I would say, based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to White people is to get the hell away from Black people, just get the f**k away … because there is no fixing this.”

The cartoonist has tried to explain that he is being cancelled because of his free speech and that no one can understand his message of don't be hateful. Scott Adams does not look deeply at the poll which the Anti-Defamation League says is linked to white supremacists which try to use certain polls to form a narrative of a race war.

Adams is smart enough to know one poll doesn't tell a full story. The context of the poll, when it was sent out, who it was sent out to, how was it sent out are important facts. This is why what he says can be only be regarded as reactionary and his rant on race divisive.

Numerous newspapers began dropping Adams last year when he was placing "woke" criticism in his comics. Some newspaper groups don't want any politics in their funnies. None. And many papers change things up. Adams was not the comic strip dropped. Most had nothing to do with politics but poor readership. 

The Winnipeg Free Press carries Dilbert. I can't recall when it first ran but the strip started in 1989. The newspaper has polled on items in the paper over the years including comic strips. Syndicated works from comics to advice columns are the hallmark of newspapers all over the world. How a newspaper chooses stuff is sometimes the purview of the editor but how are they to know sometimes what might appeal to younger readers or families or anyone really? You have to be able to assess and curating can be excellent but it helps to have some science behind the art.

In the case of Scott Adams, he is free to say what he wants but the Free Press has the right to carry what it wants. It would be surprising if they offer no commentary on this and run the strip like nothing has happened. Hopefully, someone high up the food chain where these decisions gets made offers some commentary that will say where the Free Press stands. I reached out to ask but have heard nothing back at this time. 

If they don't pay attention, I feel fairly confident they will hear from their readers on both sides of the issue. No matter what happens, the Free Press becomes the story within the story.

The Sun may editorialize and criticize the decision if the strip is dropped. They can certainly put their money with their mouth is and pick up the dropped strip. Either way, they will have to take a position just as any newspaper out there. In or out and why?

As for Adams, his net worth is estimated to be $70 million. He is 65 years old. He can complain about being cancelled but welcome to the club. There is no right of having shelf space in someone's life or newspaper or wherever. In every newspaper for as long as they have been published there is a line item that you can use if you no longer wish to have a newspaper. It is called Cancellation.

If people feel strongly about anything a newspaper does, they can cancel it. The Free Press should feel they have the same right when it comes to Dilbert. They may or may not on this but either way, it is a choice.