Our Web Addiction? Why, We're Thrilled to Death

Everybody loves a parade, it's said, but consider how much more compelling it becomes when the grand marshal, on life support, is motoring past in an ambulance. Or, if you believe some news reports, in a hearse.

Such is my morbid fascination with Web sites that, headline by headline, seem to boldly wave the Big Buh-bye in the general direction of all print media, if not newspapers in general. That is: These sites constantly take the pulse, and man, can life near the flatlining be riveting.

In recent weeks, y'see, a handful of syndicated cartoonists have been turning me on to their favorite online cartooning sites -- from webcomics to discussion groups.

In return, I've pointed them to one of my favorite journalism industry features: The Poynter Institute's popular online Romenesko column. The reason I point cartoon fans to it is because often enough, columnist Jim Romenesko highlights cartoon-related news, including such items as (1) "Dilbert's" recent product-placement within Scott Adam's strip; (2) breaking news over the New York Post's chimp cartoon; and this week (3), The Post's own Gene Weingarten explaining the chimpanzee art that ran with his column Sunday.

As cartoonists feel their own effects of newspaper cuts, the frequent dire news and trends as posted on Romenesko can make for compelling reading -- or in some cases, compelling rubbernecking, especially if your newspaper or client newspaper is doing the cutting.

For a cartoonist with a satirical bent, all the industry doom and gloom, in fact, can spur
comic inspiration -- be it this week's rerun "Doonesbury" (involving reporter Rick Redfern's layoff) or, to its own degree, this tongue-in-cheek cartoon that affectionately sends up the more dire Romenesque headlines. To wit, let us imagine: