BOTTOM LINE

Several newspapers have lately sought to improve their bottom line by eliminating the expense of syndicate fees, dropping comic strips from their line-ups. Some of those papers — including the Florida Times-Union and the Oregonian — encountered such vociferous objection from readers that they scrapped their plans. Said Comic Riffs’ Michael Cavna, quoted in May’s Editor & Publisher: “Most daily newspapers are struggling to survive. Most syndicated cartoonists are struggling to hold on to clients. In the middle of these perilous crossed train tracks is one, if not two, badly hurting business models.” In objecting to the practice of making ends meet by dropping comics, Cavna offered an analogy: “Comics are your bedroom furniture. You can burn them for a little short-term, shortsighted heat savings — and your structure will still stand. But many people won’t want to live there much longer.”