Political articles, cartoons missing from local newspaper

PITTSBURGH — Rob Rogers has been drawing cartoons since 1993 for the Post-Gazette, but according to CNN, for the last few weeks many of his cartoons, which are considered more “left," have noticeably been absent.

"I did notice and heard recently and I’m sorry to see that because I believe it needs to be seen and heard more of," said Post Gazette reader Steve Drexler

More recently, his cartoons have been seen as controversial. They've been specifically about President Donald Trump that surround topics such as immigration or racism.

There’s even one about the NFL and its decision to prohibit players from protesting racial injustice during the national anthem.

TRENDING NOW:

• Timeline of Carrick murder investigation, arrest of John Dickinson
• President Trump calls off Eagles visit over anthem dispute
• CDC: 5 dead, close to 200 sick in worst E. coli outbreak since 2006
• VIDEO: Tornado confirmed in Washington Co.

“It’s supposed to be about expressing it in a humorous way and he’s always done that," Drexler said.

CNN reports his cartoons haven’t been published since May. No explanation has been given as to why, but he continues to post his cartoons on social media, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Channel 11 learned that The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists Board released this statement about Rob Rogers and the Post-Gazette:

The longtime cartoonist for The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has gone missing. Actually, we know exactly where Rob Rogers is—at his desk creating the excellent award-winning editorial cartoons he is famous for. But it's those cartoons that have been missing for over a week from the Post-Gazette editorial pages, though we know Rob is drawing them because new cartoons are being posted on the web.

It doesn't take much to connect the dots between the absence of Rob's left-leaning cartoons and the recent arrival of a Trump-supporting editorial page editor. We would take this opportunity to remind all editorial page editors that their responsibility is to the readers (among whom in Pittsburgh, Rogers cartoons are wildly popular) and to the open and ongoing search for truth in contending opinions. The editorial pages are a public forum, not a members-only private resort in Florida.

Cox Media Group