Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Workers Slam 'Misogynistic' Cartoons

PITTSBURGH, PA - The union representing 150 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newsroom employees slammed several recent editorial cartoons they characterized as misogynistic.

In a scathing rebuke, the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh voiced its criticism in a letter to the editor it says on its website the newspaper has refused to publish.

“The publication of three misogynistic editorial cartoons within a week has disgraced the reputation of the newspaper we and the community love. The cartoons display a contempt for women and an obvious deep-seated prejudice against them, “ the letter states. “The cartoons are not witty, insightful or funny. They are a puerile recycling of ridiculous, outdated and hurtful tropes about women that have rightfully brought scorn upon this newspaper.”

The letter was signed by union president Michael Fuoco and unit chairman Jonathan Silver.

The Steve Kelley cartoons, which can be viewed by clicking the link, include:

• A woman in a restaurant telling a male dining companion, “As a modern woman, I’m all for eliminating traditional gender roles, at least until the waiter brings the dinner tab.”

• A young woman reading of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ divorce plans and telling a friend, “Maybe one day I’ll grow up and divorce a man like Jeff Bezos.”

• President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi standing face to face, with the president thinking, “Can’t blink, too much at stake,” and Pelosi thinking, “Can’t blink, too much Botox.”

Kelley last year replaced award-winning cartoonist Rob Rogers, who was fired after 25 years at the paper after the P-G refused to publish several of his anti-Trump cartoons.

The firing came four months after the newspaper gained national notoriety for publishing a controversial editorial on Martin Luther King Day that compared calling someone a racist to McCarthyism.

The P-G and the union have been involved in acrimonious labor negotiations and have been unable to reach agreement on a new contract nearly two years after the old one expired.

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