Yet again the management peremptorily issues the edict: “This is the final publication of Doonesbury in the Mail & Guardian.” That’s it, no bargaining, no discussion, no explanation, nada.
What is it with you guys? Don’t you know that we liberal leftist leftovers who supported you from when you first put this rag on the racks need our fix of international political humour? Or is it politically incorrect to be hosting an American cartoon slot right now?
Or have you directed your editorial to the mass market where Doonesbury is an anachronism in today’s South Africa, where the humdrum of parochial politics holds sway? Or is it just incomprehensible to the mediocre mentality of the heaving masses?
Whatever it is, I fear that by dropping Doonesbury, your organ slides inevitably into the melting pot where one rag becomes indecipherable from another. You’ve lost the international flavour that when you started was such a breath of fresh air across these dusty, dry African landscapes and it’s going to take some inspired journalism to maintain those standards standards that seem to be devolving to the usual domestic blah, blah. Reconsider, gentlemen, reconsider. Robert de Vos, via e-mail