One of my responsibilities at The Westmorland Gazette was to choose the cartoon which appears on the front page each week.
The Gazette cartoons are created by Colin Shelbourn, who has been producing a topical and witty illustration for the newspaper now for more than 35 years.
It’s a popular feature and one which regularly draws praise from readers. Sometimes the cartoons are just plain funny; other times they have a tougher and satirical edge – but they are always eye-catching and provide an independent viewpoint and ‘take’ on an issues making the news in the local area.
So, what exactly is the process by which the cartoon appears on the front page of The Westmorland Gazette each week?
Usually late morning on Wednesday the news editor will receive an email from Colin asking to be sent that week’s news list. This is a document that charts the various major stories of the week and which page they are likely to appear on. It will also indicate what story is likely to make that week’s lead story – although that is not always known at this stage of the weekly cycle.
Colin browses the list and then asks for copies of those stories – or a draft if they are not yet completed – that he thinks might have the potential for a cartoon.
On other occasions Colin will visit the Gazette offices in Wainwright’s Yard for a verbal run-down of the major stories of the week.
An hour or so later Colin would approach me with a series of sketches and captions – usually at least four but sometimes as many as six - or send them to me by email.
Wednesdays can be extremely busy and if it was one of those days when the planned lead story had just fallen through and deadline was fast approaching it was sometimes a challenge to switch from ‘hard news’ to ‘humour’ mode to make the best possible decision about which cartoon to choose.
However, Colin and I have written radio and stage comedy dramas together so we share a similar sense of humour. And he also has a fine and developed sense of being able to find a joke or make a telling comment when assessing news stories.
This tended to make the process fairly simple. Usually it was a case of simply deciding which of several contenders would have the most impact or make the most people laugh.
Of course everything that is published in the paper reflects on The Westmorland Gazette and one of my jobs when choosing the cartoon was to analyse if the cartoon could create a negative reaction among some readers, in terms of taste or tone or if some people might gauge it too critical of an individual or organisation. Cartoons, like any comment, can and should be challenging and make readers think so this could sometimes be a tricky balance to get right. But mostly Colin and I agreed and he was happy to consider some amendments if we both decided they were necessary and did not ‘kill’ the joke.
I also had to be aware that Colin has a wicked sense of humour and at least one of the cartoons each week would be undoubtedly hilarious but totally and intentionally unsuitable for publication!
Once I had chosen the cartoon Colin would go and create the finished artwork and email it to me. This item would often be the final piece of the page one jigsaw and placed on the page shortly before the final page was sent to Glasgow for printing, somewhere between 5.30pm and 6pm.
(Colin’s first cartoon on the start of the 2001 Foot & Mouth crisis)
Over the years Colin’s cartoons have illustrated and provided an alternative viewpoint on a range of subjects, such as the Windermere 10mph speed limit, the spread of second homes in the Lake District, the loss of many rural services and levels of local police funding. While some subjects are difficult to tackle, Colin has astutely found ways to illustrate hard-hitting news stories like the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease and the cockling tragedy on Morecambe Bay in a way that made readers think more deeply about their implications.
Few regional newspapers feature bespoke cartoons based on local, topical issues and it was a pleasure to be involved in choosing a front page element that would make people smile and also make them think – and often both at the same time.
For more of Shelbourn’s cartoons, visit www.radiocartoonist.com