New huge cartoon collection respository at Ohio State

Bob Bastian was one of my favorite political cartoonists. I have two of his original cartoons. I plan to give one cartoon regarding the war in Cambodia to Dyslexia, who served there. The other is a large Ronald Reagan cartoon I was given by Bastian as a result of my overcoming Reagan's veto of my California Price Per Pound legislation. That one I'm keeping. ---BBB

Robert O. Bastian spent his early years in Stockton, Calif. In 1940 he received a B.A. in Political Science from the College of the Pacific. Following graduation, Bastian studied art with Dong Kingman at the San Francisco Art Institute until the outbreak of World War II. After serving with the Marines in the South Pacific, he worked in San Francisco as an advertising illustrator until hired as editorial cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle in 1953. Bastian held this position until a 1968 strike forced him to seek other employment. In that same year he was hired as cartoonist-in-residence by San Francisco Public Broadcasting's KQED-TV for a nightly hour-long news program called "Newsroom." Bastian's role on this program was to draw one cartoon each night during the course of the show. KQED published a collection of his 1968/69 efforts as The Best of Bastian. Bob Bastian committed suicide in 1970.

Workplace Columnists and Cartoonists React to Recession
Workplace Columnists and Cartoonists React to Recession
By Dave Astor - E & P
Published: May 14, 2008

"Working Wounded" was retitled "workplace911" in March, the faltering U.S. economy was one reason for the new moniker. "It did play a part in changing the column name," says Sherrie Campbell, who recently joined Bob Rosner in co-bylining the feature.

"People are scared," adds Rosner, who began the United Media column 13 years ago. "They don't feel confident in their jobs. I'm continually struck by how dispirited the workforce seems to be."

Rosner and Campbell are trying to help worried readers not only with their regular "workplace911" columns and polls, but with a special 10-week series about the recession and how people can deal with it. The print/online series launched in mid-April and will last well into June.

Other work-related columnists and cartoonists are also offering (or planning to offer) more content about the recession and its various manifestations -- such as outsourcing, layoffs, heavier workloads in understaffed offices, the slashing of benefits, and the increased difficulty in finding jobs.

Mildred Culp, whose features include the 1982-launched "WorkWise" and 2004-launched "WorkWise Interactive," definitely has some readers with employment woes. "They seem very concerned," she tells E&P. "They say, 'I've been hunting and hunting, but can't find anything.'"

The independent syndicator does note that job-seekers don't necessarily blame the recession for their employment woes. They could be looking for work in the wrong way, says Culp, and the columnist tries to point them in the right direction.

Copley News Service columnist Michael Kinsman, who covers the workplace from a rank-and-file perspective, began his feature in 1986. He says this was around the time when job security was starting to decrease, and employers began switching pensions to 401(k) plans. But Kinsman says things have grown even worse during the past couple of years.

"Before, if you lost a job, you often could find a similar one," he observes. "Now, you may get similar money but less benefits, or $15 an hour instead of the $30 an hour you were making, or the job might be temporary. It's not easy to replicate what you had."

Kinsman adds that some people, including those who have used up unemployment benefits, "are just plain desperate."

He also notes that job insecurity, once mostly faced by blue-collar workers, is now having a "big impact" on white-collar professionals, too. "People realize they're vulnerable," he says.

The Copley writer -- who discusses all of the above in his column -- has experienced some of the work challenges he discusses. Kinsman accepted a buyout from The San Diego Union-Tribune late last year, and now makes a living writing his column, doing freelance stories, and running a public-art project in San Diego.

Culp multitasks not only with her various "WorkWise" features (including a streaming-audio one) but by freelancing for such papers as New York's Daily News.

Charlos Gary is another syndicated creator who, like many Americans in this economy, earns money at more than one thing. He's a graphic artist for the St. Petersburg Times, a freelance illustrator, and the creator of two comics: the 2007-launched "Cafe Con Leche" and the 2002-launched "Working It Out."

The latter feature focuses on the workplace, and Gary says he plans to increasingly portray the effects of the recession in that humor comic. "That's something readers want to see," says the Creators Syndicate cartoonist.

Gary adds that the economy is "really bleak. You just have to listen to people to know that. It's sad to listen, but you get all kinds of fodder." He also recalls visiting New York City recently, and seeing a huge line for a job fair snaking around the block.

The cartoonist does gags about such things as the way employees are urged to learn new "skill sets" and the behavior of management in this economy. In one April episode of "Working It Out," Gary shows a boss telling an employee: "Look, I'm a little busy now. Can't you just fire yourself?"

Also, Gary plans to do a gag or gags inspired by skits in the old "In Living Color" TV show that featured a West Indian family whose members each worked several jobs. "If you only had two jobs, you were a slacker," Gary laughs.

The most popular workplace comic is "Dilbert," and its creator is eyeing the economy closely. "If layoffs continue to increase, I'll probably do more of that in the strip," Scott Adams tells E&P, adding that he's already addressed subjects like outsourcing.

Adams, whose humor strip runs in more than 2,000 newspapers via United, does note that few of the many reader letters he receives are about layoffs. He says America is experiencing "kind of a weird downturn" that's very bad for some people but not so bad for others -- and that the unemployment rate is nothing like it was during the Great Depression.

Of course, the relatively low unemployment rate is deceptive in that it doesn't count people who have given up looking for work or who were forced to accept jobs with lower pay and fewer or no benefits.

Not every workplace columnist is receiving a recession earful from readers. "Oddly, I'm not getting letters from people experiencing financial hardships," says Lindsey Novak of Creators. "I have in the past, but it seems the people who have jobs are still finding other jobs."

The "At Work" writer does add that she gets many comments on age discrimination. And a couple of columnists mention that baby-boomer retirements are keeping the unemployment rate lower that it would otherwise be.

Still, it's tough out there. J.T. O'Donnell, who collaborates with Dale Dauten on a jobs column distributed by King Features Syndicate, wrote in her blog last month: "80,000 jobs have been lost since January, the unemployment rate is the highest it's been in three years, consumer confidence is at an all-time low, more layoffs are expected as spending decreases, and Americans are starting to skip making payments that are ruining their credit scores (which many employers now check as part of the hiring process). Hmmm -- happy Friday!"

While acknowledging the worsening economy, workplace columnists continue to offer advice to help readers do the best they can in recessionary times. For instance, the "workplace911" recession series offers many tips ?- such as creating multiple resumes, increasing networking efforts, moonlighting on other projects, moving to a part of the U.S. where jobs are more plentiful, and interviewing for jobs one doesn't want in order to practice interview skills and see what's out there.

In the recession series, Campbell and Rosner include some lighthearted wording with the serious advice (a mix they also offer in their regular "workplace911" columns). "We understand the weight of the recession, but it's important to have a little humor," says Campbell, who's also an award-winning comedian.

The "workplace911" feature's yin and yang also includes a male and female perspective, and advice for employers as well as employees.

Rosner concludes with some advice for newspapers: Run more workplace content (which he says differs from business content) because most readers are interested in the topic of jobs -- whether the economy is good or bad.