Duffy speaks out on Register layoffs

Tue December 09 2008
Posted Dec 9, 2008
16,860

Des Moines By Jason Hancock 12/8/08 11:27 AM Fired Des Moines Register cartoonist Brian Duffy is talking to the media about his dismissal from the paper he’s worked at for a quarter century. Duffy, whose job was one of 71 eliminated last week, spoke with Des Moines NBC affiliate WHO and CBS affiliate KCCI about his departure from the Register. Despite working for the paper since 1983, Duffy said he was given the cold shoulder in his final moments of employment. [They told me to] just stay here. We’ll bring your coat down and your bag. We’ll escort you out of the building. Duffy said he’s canceled his Register subscription and will no longer host RAGBRAI, something he’s done for 20 years, nor allow the paper to run his cartoons, which will continue to be syndicated in 400 papers around the country. His biggest concern, however, is what message his firing sends to young journalists. If they can take people out who have given their heart and soul to a company without batting an eye, that means they are not safe either. Duffy’s departure ends a century-long tradition at the Register of a front-page editorial cartoon. Three of the paper’s Pulitzers were for editorial cartoons. From WHO-TV: