'Zits' cartoonist taking Ohio newspaper buyout

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Jim Borgman, who draws editorial cartoons and the "Zits" comic strip, is one of 60 people getting buyouts at The Cincinnati Enquirer, the newspaper reported Wednesday.

His daily cartoons will end this month, but he said he will continue to work on "Zits," focused on a teen boy and his parents. Borgman, who has spent 32 years at the newspaper, also will create a new cartoon feature later this year for The Enquirer's Sunday editions.

"I've enjoyed doing two of the best jobs I can imagine -- drawing editorial cartoons and my comic strip 'Zits' -- and I have loved it all, although it is exhausting," Borgman said. "Continuing 'Zits' while doing a new weekly feature sounds like a great balance."

The comic strip appears in some 1,600 newspapers nationwide.

Borgman won the Pulitzer in 1991 for editorial cartooning.

The buyouts are part of Gannett Co.'s recent newspaper staffing reductions across the nation. Enquirer Publisher Margaret Buchanan said the cuts reflect the pressure facing newspapers as traditional advertising revenue declines in a challenging economy.

The Enquirer cuts represent about 6 percent of the newspaper's work force. The other employees weren't identified, but a quarter of the buyouts went to people in the news division.

Editor Tom Callinan said the newspaper will restructure some of its editing and design operations with the goal of protecting its local news coverage.