SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Food Politics reports that Rick Friday, a long time cartoonist for Farm News, was dismissed for offending "a large company affiliated with one of the corporations mentioned in a cartoon." The political cartoon is critical of Big Ag CEOs, which earned more than 2,000 Iowa farmers combined.
In a Facebook post the cartoonist, Rick Friday, explained:
I am no longer the Editorial Cartoonist for Farm News due to the attached cartoon which was published yesterday. Apparently a large company affiliated with one of the corporations mentioned in the cartoon was insulted and cancelled their advertisement with the paper, thus, resulting in the reprimand of my editor and cancellation of It's Friday cartoons after 21 years of service and over 1090 published cartoons to over 24,000 households per week in 33 counties of Iowa.
I did my research and only submitted the facts in my cartoon.
That's okay, hopefully my children and my grandchildren will see that this last cartoon published by Farm News out of Fort Dodge, Iowa, will shine light on how fragile our rights to free speech and free press really are in the country.
The Des Moines Register explains further:
The CEOs at the ag giants earned about $52.9 million last year, based on Morningstar data. Monsanto and DuPont, the parent of Johnston-based Pioneer, are large seed and chemical companies, and Deere is a large farm equipment manufacturer.
Profits for the three companies, all with large operations across Iowa, also have declined as farm income has been squeezed. After peaking in 2013, U.S. farm income this year is projected to fall to $183 billion, its lowest level since 2002.
It seems like in the U.S. you free to say what you like, but if you offend the wrong people you're free to lose your job despite the protections you are provided and encouraged to use.
(Score: 4, Informative) by quintessence on Thursday May 05 2016, @03:37PM
This has already been a long time in the making:
February 2003 came down in favor of WTVT, who successfully argued that the FCC policy against falsification was not a "law, rule, or regulation", and so the whistle-blower law did not qualify as the required "law, rule, or regulation" under section 448.102 of the Florida Statutes.[5] ... Because the FCC's news distortion policy is not a "law, rule, or regulation" under section 448.102 of the Florida Statutes,[5] Akre has failed to state a claim under the whistle-blower's statute.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Akre [wikipedia.org]
It was game over from that point on, with every news agency free to distort to their heart's desire.
More pertinent in the cartoonist's case was that his speech was directly related to his employer. Sucks, but this is a job performance issue, and sometimes there is a high cost to speaking your mind.
(Score: 2) by black6host on Thursday May 05 2016, @05:15PM
As much as I dislike companies like Monsanto I agree with you. Perhaps the cartoonist would have been better off publishing elsewhere, anonymously.
I also think that the one who approved the cartoon for publishing should have been the one fired. Just my 2 cents.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 05 2016, @05:30PM
> Perhaps the cartoonist would have been better off publishing elsewhere, anonymously.
And starving. Definitely better off starving.