"Pepper…And Salt" no longer on WSJ edit page menu

Cate Doty of The New York Times writes that the popular “Pepper…And Salt” editorial column that has appeared on The Wall Street Journal‘s editorial page for 58 years is now being published on the Leisure & Arts page.

Doty writes, “Edited since 1950 by Charles Preston, the cartoon, which is culled from hundreds of submissions each week, skewers fat cats, irritating bosses and anyone partaking too much in the good life. (Some Journal readers, masters of the universe themselves, might have squirmed a little.)

“The Journal would not comment on why the 58-year-old cartoon was moved last week, or what the future holds for ‘Pepper … and Salt’ in the new Murdoch era. But Pepper’s move could make way for a more Murdochian brand of editorial cartoon, cartoonists said.

“The paper disclosed the change on April 21 when it announced revisions to its editorial and op-ed pages.

“‘Murdoch’s papers are known for their great editorial cartooning,’ said Rex Babin, the editorial cartoonist for The Sacramento Bee. Mr. Babin noted that Pepper’s targets — the foibles of offices and other institutional oddities of American life — were not distinctly editorial in nature, and The Journal page might benefit from an actual conservative editorial cartoonist, as opposed to a feature cartoon whose spiritual sibling is The New Yorker.”

Read more here. Cartoon by Donna Barstow.