ANP
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 11:50
Jos Collignon makes his last drawing for de Volkskrant on July 13. The cartoonist has to stop after 44 years because the newspaper wants to innovate. He said this in the NPO Radio 1 program MISHA!.
The editor-in-chief of de Volkskrant told Collignon that the newspaper has decided to stop its cartoons. “It was an excellent conversation, in which I received a broad understanding from the editors-in-chief. But at the end he said that he wanted to get rid of me,” said Collignon.
Criticism
Collignon has recently been criticized for a number of cartoons, partly because some are said to be stereotypical or even anti-Semitic. For example, De Volkskrant previously removed a drawing showing two men on a scooter, with the Moroccan flag in their hands, stealing the World Cup. At the end of last year, a commotion arose over a cartoon about anti-Semitism and the war in Gaza.
The editor-in-chief, Pieter Klok, said in a response to the ANP news agency that the decision has nothing to do with the recent commotion. According to him, the decision has already been made before then. He calls it “a difficult decision, its significance for de Volkskrant is enormous, but at some point it is time for new voices.”
The cartoonist is disappointed with the decision that he has to stop, but accepts it. “The editor-in-chief responds the way he thinks he should respond.” He doesn’t know yet what he will do after his last drawing for the newspaper. “I may never draw again. For some colleagues it is their passion and their life, they would die if they could no longer draw. I don’t have that at all.”
Collignon has been making cartoons about current events for 47 years. He worked for until 1980 NRC Handelsblad. Collignon has won several prizes, including the Inktspot Prize.
2024-02-06 10:50:15
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