One measure of good journalism is impact.
Does a story strike a nerve? Does an editorial take a tough and unequivocal stand? Does a photo make an emotional connection? And does a satirical editorial cartoon elicit a reaction?
Judging by the dozens of e-mails received by this office in recent days, The Bee’s editorial cartoonist Rex Babin has ignited a controversy within the nation’s firefighting ranks.
On Jan. 6, the paper published Babin’s “Great Moments in Sacramento Firefighting …” which is reprinted here. The three-panel cartoon was Babin’s commentary on the well-documented misdeeds of some Sacramento city firemen.
The firefighters – while on-duty, in uniform and driving firetrucks – attended a porn star costume ball, drank on the job and had a habit of cruising downtown bars at night looking for young women and giving them rides on the bright, shiny trucks.
Some were fired, some resigned, some were suspended, some were reprimanded. A woman photographer at the porn star ball has filed a civil claim with the city alleging she was sexually assaulted by two firemen in one of the fire trucks parked outside the ball.
A city investigation showed that one group of firemen picked up four women from a bar and then had them ride along as they responded to three fires, red lights flashing and siren screaming.
And this sorry tale doesn’t stop there.
The city fire chief and the city manager – who waged a battle to keep much of the disciplinary process secret – compounded the problem with an outrageous political bait-and-switch right out of Mayberry.
They made a big show at a City Hall press conference, with the mayor and city council members in attendance, of publicly announcing the firing of several firefighters, only to turn around two days later and reinstate five of them when no one was looking.
It left the embarrassed mayor and city council looking like hayseeds, leading to a humiliating public apology by the fire chief and city manger.
To say the least, the city’s boneheads – those in uniform and in suits and ties – have provided a rich milieu for the political cartoonist’s palette.
In weighing in, Babin used two images that, in post-terrorism America, are considered sacred in some quarters, especially among firefighters.
The first is of firefighters raising the flag at Ground Zero in New York City, where more than 300 firefighters lost their lives trying to save people at the World Trade Center on 9/11. The second is of a firefighter carrying a victim in his arms similar to the famous photograph from the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, which also took many lives.
To make his point, Babin substituted Playboy magazine’s well-known bunny mascot onto the flag and, in the second frame, depicted a firefighter carrying a bikini-clad woman with the words, “Hey, Babe… .”
Within days, the e-mails began arriving, spamming the paper through an orchestrated Internet campaign, as the cartoon made its way through firehouses across the country and overseas. The cartoon has been prominent on Firehouse.com, a site popular with firefighters.
Interestingly, very few of the messages received have been from Sacramento, where the firefighters’ escapades have received much news coverage. The farther away the e-mails originated – some have come from as far away as Europe – the more strident the message, ignoring or giving scant recognition to the local problem in Sacramento that led to the cartoon in the first place.
These are some of the words used to criticize the cartoon: “tasteless,” “deplorable,” “sick,” “distasteful and disrespectful,” “despicable,” “idiots.” And there have been harsher words, too, the kind you can’t print in a family paper.
Some of the critics have been more thoughtful.
“… You have crossed the line,” wrote Steve Simmons, fire code compliance officer with the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District in the Bay Area. “The scene from Ground Zero in New York has become a rallying point for firefighters as well as for the war on terrorism.”
Wrote Michael Shane Phillips, fire chief of the McNairy County Fire Department in Selmer, Tenn.: “You took two sacred photos that are burned into the memory and heart of American firefighters and completely trashed them. These are two images that show the true spirit of the firefighter that you have just made a complete mockery of … how dare you drag us all into one melting pot for your pleasure.”
And that is the essence of the complaints, that the editorial cartoon unfairly tarnishes firefighters everywhere, the good guys, by satirically recasting the very symbols firefighters consider as icons.
But as heartfelt as some of the critics might be, I believe they are wrong and are missing the point: It is the wayward Sacramento firefighters who have besmirched the heroic images.
The job of an editorial cartoonist is to be strongly opinionated and to cast his commentary in vivid images, even ones that some might find offensive.
It is part of the editorial license that comes with the job. Whether you agree with the point of view is irrelevant. Fewer things are sadder in journalism than a weak editorial cartoonist, one who practices his craft in fear.
“I stand by the cartoon,” Babin said. “There’s nothing wrong with the use of the images.” In fact, he said, he chose the Ground Zero and Oklahoma City images to make his point precisely because they are considered icons among firefighters.
“The Sacramento firefighters stained these images … It’s their behavior that is a disgrace.”
Editorial page editor David Holwerk is Babin’s boss and he approved the cartoon for publication. Holwerk is a veteran newsman and experienced editor. He knew what was coming once Babin’s cartoon made the rounds.
“It was a legitimate use of the images. The point of the cartoon was that the behavior of the firefighters in Sacramento was shameful – certainly outrageous. It was not in keeping with the best tradition of firefighters anywhere,” Holwerk said.
“I know anytime you use these iconic images, they will touch a nerve.”
Certainly there were a handful of e-mails from current or former firefighters who praised the cartoon and were critical of their more myopic brethren.
More broadly, though, editorial cartoonists have a rich history in American journalism of using “sacred” images to make a point. The famous image from World War II showing Marines hoisting the flag on Iwo Jima, for example, has been used as cartoonist fodder any number of different ways.
Some make you laugh; some make you cringe; some make you angry. That’s what they are supposed to do.
The inevitable outcry from some readers “is an occupational hazard of the business,” Holwerk said.
“It is a classic tool in the cartoonist’s tool bag and one I won’t take away.”
I agree, the less infringement the better.
