After advertiser complaints, Farm News fires editorial cartoonist who criticized John Deere & Monsanto

Cory Doctorow 7:23 am Wed May 4, 2016

Rick Friday has been the editorial cartoonist for Farm News for 21 years, with a weekly slot in every Friday's paper.

He was fired last week, after his latest cartoon drew a complaint from an unnamed seed dealer in the Iowa paper, which reaches 24,000 households in 33 counties.

The cartoon criticized Monsanto and John Deere.

The cartoon features two farmers talking about farming profits. (view cartoon)

The first says, "I wish there was more profit in farming."

The second farm answers, "There is. In year 2015 the CEOs of Monsanto, DuPont Pioneer and John Deere combined made more money than 2,129 Iowa farmers.

Friday received an email from his editor at Farm New cutting off their relationship a day after the cartoon was published.

Friday’s editor said a seed dealer pulled their advertisements with Farm News as a result of the cartoon, and others working at the paper disagreed with the jokes made about the agriculture corporations.

Long-time Iowa farm cartoonist fired after creating this cartoon
[Vanessa Peng/KCCI]

(via Naked Capitalism)

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