Editors Pains

In my experience working with newspapers I found that after 9/11/2001 editors became extra sensitive around possibly offending readers through the imagery in an illustration. Whether these editors pains were justified or not, often this type of scrutiny has an adverse effect on the poignancy of the illustration.

 In this illustration for the modern version of 'the Cave', the editors  were uneasy about showing skeletons.

the illustration was revised and printed like this:

This illustration was on the subject of 'Robinson Cruiseau 's summer reading'.

Editors  were concerned about readers sensitivities around my depiction of 'Friday'.

Editors wouldn't swing with this illustration about a teenage African-American girl from a deprived background feeling herself under peer pressure.

 Jack Abramoff, lobbyist who greased his ultra conservative agenda with overly lavish donations to congressmen, was one of the most toxic men in Washington. Upon his indictment many congressmen would fear their being mentioned as Abramoff's associates, as this would mean the certain end to their careers. Editors didn't like the idea of people jumping offhigh places (sketches above), and the illustration had to be changed to this:

 This was an illustration i did for the New York Times Book Review as an illustration for the novel 'Fingersmith' about a 19th Century lesbian poet. The editors objected to the sexuality in this scene. I changed it to this image:

I concentrated on the later part of the poets life which she spent in an insane asylum.

A big 'no-no' especially after 9/11/01 is to show people jumping off buildings. 

This illustration was about 'Black Friday', the infamous stock market crash in 1929

which saw bankers unable to pay back their clients jump from their office windows high over Wall Street.

The illustration wasn't printed.

This was an illustration for the Nation as lead illustration on a story about the horrors of war, starvation and displacement in Sudan.

The editors went for a photo instead.