 |
|
|
Cincinnati SPJ Awards - Nick Clooney column
He wields power with pen by Nick Clooney
The line got the biggest laugh of the night, as well it should. The speaker, you see was Jim Borgman, one of the most influential opinion-makers - and newsmen - in the nation. The occasion was Jim's induction into the Cincinnati News Hall of Fame, a relativelyrecent project of the Cincinnati chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Jim's acceptance speech was a gem. I would reprint the entire thing, except it was so good Jim might want to use it on another occasion. Besides, I made notes and intend to use whole sections of it myself when called upon to speechify in the future. Probably many of you are unaware of it, but there is another newspaper in town - the Enquirer - where Jim hangs his hat. But saying that Jim Borgman does his political cartooning for Cincinnati is akin to saying Michelangelo did his art for Rome. Both worked a much larger canvas, perhaps, than either of them understood. In our part of the world which, it is fair to say, stands several degrees to the right ideologically from most of the rest of the nation, Jim Borgman is often called ''liberal.'' If so, the designation has few political party overtones. If your memory is short, let me remind you that Jimmy Carter was the victim of many of Jim's most pungent cartoons, and Bill Clinton has fared no better. If Republican presidents have had the benefit of Jim's wit more than Democrats, it is because they have occupied the house on Pennsylvania Avenue for more of Jim's productive years. Perhaps a longtime observer and admirer will be permitted a comment. The thread I see through Jim Borgman's work follows a philosophy I share and upon which I have remarked here before. Those with less power must be protected. Those with more power must be challenged. When Jim is introduced these days it is invariably as ''Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist ...'' We could add a few dozen more national and international awards by now. His career has taken on legendary proportions. Still, those who know him even moderately well understand that the last 18 months have seen the nadir of Jim's life. It is painful to write of it, even now. The irrepressible, irreplaceable Lynn is gone from his life. And from ours, too. The news of her death shocked his friends into numbness. In my own case, each letter I started, each phone call I dialed, each paragraph I began on the subject seemed an intrusion. Seems so even today. So I concentrate on remembered laughter and laughter still to come. Everyone has a handful of favorite Borgman cartoons, even those who have been on the receiving end of his barbs. No one is safe. Or even sacred. Remember when Catholic bishops took a stand against surrogate parenting? There was a Borgman masterpiece with a member of the church hierarchy startled by a voice on high thundering, ''Now what's this about surrogate parenting?'' - an incisive reference to the most famous Surrogate Parent of them all? When, as Channel 12's managing editor in the 1980s, I hired Pete Rose to be a special sports reporter when baseball season ended, Jim had Pete sliding across the anchor desk head-first, past Ira Joe Fisher, me and Denny Janson, with this caption, ''Pete Rose brings his special brand of sports reporting to Channel 12.'' When I began writing this column for The Post, Jim drew on his own stationery a battlefield, with shells flying, men ducking into foxholes. Jim himself was in the nearest foxhole, steel helmet and all. He looked up at me from the paper and his caption read, ''Welcome to the print wars, Nick. And keep your head down.'' A great cartoon. And excellent advice. Jim told us all at the dinner Friday that he was honored to be in Cincinnati's News Hall of Fame. Anyone in attendance could have told him it was the other way around.
Nick Clooney writes for The Post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Along with Jim Borgman and the late Albert Huneke, he was inducted into the Cincinnati News Hall of Fame Friday night.
|
