Pearls Before Swine comic strip pulled

[mheslep]

The comic strip Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis has been syndicated since 2002. Recently the syndicator Universal Uclick pulled a strip from distribution, without explanation. The strip poked fun at government security and referenced ISIS. Pastis later tweeted it instead.

The ban troubles me. No mention of this in the US press that I can find. Here's hoping for a wave of comics to lampoon Uclick's censorship.

 

[jtbell]

Some newspapers prefer not to let politics intrude into the comics page. My "local" daily newspaper moved Doonesbury from the comics page after complaints from some subscribers, and now buries it in the middle of the classified ads or at the end of the sports section.

 

[mheslep]

Some newspapers prefer not to let politics intrude into the comics page. My "local" daily newspaper moved Doonesbury from the comics page after complaints from some subscribers, and now buries it in the middle of the classified ads or at the end of the sports section.

True, though this particular action was taken by the syndicator, not a particular newspaper. The strip did not move to a different page; a satirical comment on government vanished entirely from every newspaper.

 

[OCR]

The ban troubles me.

Yes, me too... that kind of behavior is, well, ... bizarre !

 

[StatGuy2000]

Here is an blog entry in Slate talking about the very issue related to the pulling of Pearls Before Swine.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_...mic_about_isis_never_make_it_into_papers.html

 

[Kevin McHugh]

The Ministry of Truth acting at its finest.

 

[phinds]

The Ministry of Truth acting at its finest.

Interestingly, in the following strip, Mouse's point of view could be directed at the Ministry of Truth:

 

[Algr]

How do newspapers determine what comic strips are the most popular? They are all on one page, how do you do ratings? Is it all done by complaints?

 

[mheslep]

Micro-cameras embedded into the comics page that detect grin/not-grin and then phone home the results. Or not.

 

[micromass]

Here is an blog entry in Slate talking about the very issue related to the pulling of Pearls Before Swine.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_...mic_about_isis_never_make_it_into_papers.html

OK, this explanation makes a lot of sense. Case closed I'd say.