The low price of cartoons, along with the shrinking number of dailies, are two reasons why full-time editorial cartooning jobs have dropped from more than 200 several decades ago to fewer than 150 today. That, said Perkins, means many qualified cartoonists can't make a living. Perkins himself self-syndicates to about 120 alternative papers, which are more willing to run work questioning the status quo. He added that the Internet is another way for jobless cartoonists to get their work out, although few are making much money on the Web yet. Cartoonists with full-time jobs are also on the Web.
Creators can also innovate in print.
Wilkinson also suggested that newspapers consider putting editorial cartoons in different parts of the paper. Actually, The Des Moines Register has a long tradition of running the work of its staff editorial cartoonist on the front page. While the 1990s are not considered a golden age for editorial cartooning, Jules Feiffer said this is partly beyond of the control of artists. He added that today's cartoonists are not only hamstrung by having no defining event like Vietnam, but by their political targets. The problem is that we're drawing about stereotypes and trying to make something original out of them.