An 8-year-old in Bloomington, Indiana telephoned the editor of the Herald-Times on Sunday, after discovering that the newspaper had swapped out 13 comics in the color-comic section. Some of those terminated comics were his favorites. It ruined his day, and he let the editor of the paper know very clearly how he felt. The voicemail he left for Bob Zaltsberg is below.
Bob Zaltsberg, editor in chief of The Herald-Times. Chris Howell | Herald-Times
"OK, I want back these comics now," the boy said. His faves included "Peanuts," "Dilbert," "Nancy," "Garfield," "For Better or For Worse," "Ziggy," and others.
"I'll give you all my money" if the comics are reinstated on the color comics page, the child said before ending his call by describing the newspaper editors as "idiots, jerks, [and] shitholes."
Spotted at Romenesko, who spoke to editor Bob Zaltsberg : "I thought it was a very funny thing, but still an eight-year-old calling me a shithole isn't that pleasant," Zaltsberg said.
Zaltsberg says the paper negotiated with three syndicates after the publisher ordered the comics budget cut. The Times-Herald got "pretty good breaks" from Creators Syndicate and King Features, but Universal Uclick wouldn't negotiate. Its 13 comics were dropped.
"Editor Bob Zaltsberg gets a message from an 8-year-old about our comic changes" [heraldtimesonline.com]
