Rob Rogers had worked for The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for 25 years but was fired on Thursday, June 14. The fact itself may not be very interesting, since there is always someone out there who, sadly, must pack his things and look for another job. It is not pleasant, but it is also not unusual.
But there is more to Rob Rogers' story than just that. After all, it is not every day that a person is fired for doing his job, right? Well, that is exactly the case of Mr. Rogers, who was dismissed for making fun of Donald Trump. But, taking into consideration that he was an editorial cartoonist, what else was he supposed to do?
Satire was what he did for a living.
However, it was not enough that Rogers' cartoons were funny. It turned out that the new management also wanted them to be in accord with "the philosophy of the newspaper".
Rogers' views allegedly did not reflect 'the philosophy of the newspaper'
Mr. Rogers wrote a letter to the New York Times, in which he told his story. Later, in an interview on CNN, viewers learned even more details about the case. Rogers' dismissal did not come out of the blue - it was rather a consequence of the steady evolution of his newspaper.
A few months ago, Rogers was allegedly informed that according to the management's new policy the editorial cartoonist's views should be in accord with "the philosophy of the newspaper." That was something new to Rogers, in whose opinion cartoonists are not supposed to just illustrate somebody else’s politics, but their job is to provoke readers in a way that words alone cannot.
Rogers was deemed 'obsessed with Trump'
Rogers acknowledges that The Post-Gazette has come a long way before changing into what it is now. It started as a liberal newspaper, but open to other ideas. The paper commenced modifying its line in 2010 when it endorsed the Republican candidate for the governor of Pennsylvania. This came as a big surprise to a majority of the readers.
The next big step was taken in 2015 when the editorial page editor took a buyout after the publisher said that The Gazette might endorse Trump. "Then," writes Rogers, "early this year, we published openly racist editorials." In March the management told Rogers' that his cartoons concerning Donald Trump were “too angry” and even that he was “obsessed with Trump.”
Politico cited John Block, editor-in-chief of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as saying, "He’s just become too angry for his health or for his own good.”
Over a three month period, almost 20 of Mr. Rogers' cartoons or proposals were rejected. This was a straight path leading to him being fired on Thursday, this week.
