With the demise of newspapers, one might think that now would be a horrible time to get into the cartooning business, but I think it's a great time for someone just starting out: they don't know how good staff and syndicated cartoonists had it, so there'll be no griping about the good ol' days.
Let's face it: With eight years of Bush and Cheney in office, cartooning came easy. There was so much material, it was sick. My neighbor's dog was doing editorial cartoons and making a decent living from it.
But nowadays, cartoonists and comic strips are being cut from publications left and right. Once-steady incomes have dwindled down to nothing. And many older cartoonists are looking at freelancing for the very first time.
It'll be those cartoonists who really get their hustle on that'll survive this huge downturn — by thinking beyond the printed page (web, animation, live performance).
But don't count all newspapers out. Big city newspapers may be hurting in a harsh way, but smaller city papers will stick around. You can find out what's happening in Portland on the web, but you still can't find out what's happening in Peanuckle, Idaho, without a newspaper.