September 11-14, 2025The AAEC will be joining the line-up at this year’s Small Press Expo as part of our annual convention in September 2025. Registration is now open.
Registration page
by JP Trostle, Minister of Information So, as you might have heard, I’ll be stepping down soon as the Notebook editor (and editor of this site). The reason — and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s true — is to spend more time with my family. It is also true that I’ve been […]
With the resignation of editorial cartoonist and Pulitzer Prize winner Ann Telnaes from The Washington Post, corporate billionaires once again have brought an editorial cartoon to life with their craven censorship in bowing to a wannabe tyrant. Her principled resignation illustrates that while the pen is mightier than the sword, political cowardice once again eclipses […]
We’re used to hearing about cartoonists getting fired, but it is exceedingly rare for one to quit on principle. On Friday, Jan. 3, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes announced she was quitting The Washington Post in protest after editors killed a cartoon criticizing Jeff Bezos and other news media owners for kowtowing to Trump. Telnaes, […]
[Editor’s note: The day after he returned home from this year’s joint AAEC/ACC Convention in Quebec, cartoonist Michael de Adder found out he’d been fired from his long-time newspaper after it was recently purchased by hedgefund-owned Postmedia. The Daily Cartoonist has been been covering the news, and the AAEC has now released a statement in […]
On Tuesday, July 11, McClatchy unceremoniously fired their three most prominent staff editorial cartoonists with no warning. Kevin Siers, of The Charlotte Observer, Joel Pett of the Lexington Herald-Leader, and Jack Ohman of The Sacramento Bee — all three Pulitzer Prizing-winning cartoonists — we’re the only three employees targeted in the latest round of layoffs […]
Cartoonists continue to come and go and … ok, mostly go. Sometime late in 2022, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s staff cartoonist Steve Kelley quietly left the newspaper he’d been at since 2018 — so quietly in fact, that there was no announcement until Tim Hartman posted on his Facebook page in January that he was now […]
Mike Thompson has had a tumultuous 2023. A year after he was unceremoniously sacked from his long-time gig at USA Today by new owners Gatehouse— er, that is, Gannett — Thompson was the winner of a nationwide search to follow up the stellar Steve Sack at the storied Minneapolis Star Tribune. https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2023/03/24/mike-thompson-joins-star-tribune-staff/ This was a […]
Michael Cavna sums up a rough fortnight for political cartoonists and newspaper editors, and asks an important question: What if publishers decide it’s too much trouble to do their damn job? https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/06/23/political-cartoons-racist-small-newspapers/ “In my mind, editorial cartoons are expendable. None of them are produced by our staff, and rarely do they depict a local […]
Daryl Cagle writes his congressman and sounds the alarm about the immediate danger facing newspapers, syndicates, small businesses—and freedom of the press. Cartoonists may be the canary in the coal mine, but this bird is singing. We’re running the entire letter here, as it makes points that have an impact on cartoonists across the industry. […]
Filed under “Yeah, no” The Buffalo News took a rare stand (for editorial page editors that is) and told a reader in Letters to the Editor that No, they are NOT going to remove their editorial cartoonist just because the reader was offended by an opinion they didn’t agree with. Of course, the statement would […]
We got an email the other day from cartoonist Jimmy Margulies, who wanted everyone to know yet another paper has dropped editorial cartoons. Margulies writes, “My first day back at work upon returning from the convention in Columbus [in October], I was told that my newspaper amNEW YORK was being sold by its owner Newsday […]
GateHouse Media, a chain that owns some 156 newspapers, continued its apparent quest to run them all into the ground. Just before Memorial Day weekend, GateHouse announced the purging of reporters and personnel at two dozen or more papers across the country, including laying off what may be the last three staff cartoonists on their […]
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has hired Steve Kelley as its new full-time editorial cartoonist. Kelley will be joining the staff of the Pennsylvania paper beginning Nov. 4, drawing five cartoons a week. In a brief phone interview, the cartoonist talked about the opportunity. "I'm just thankful to have another gig," said Kelley, who thought he might never […]
Usually when you use "staff job" and "cartoonist" in the same sentence, it's a bad thing with an unhappy ending. Not this time. It was announced this week that editorial cartoonist Mike Ramirez has landed on the staff of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner (and AAEC President from 1997-1998) will be […]
Editorial cartoonist Marshall Ramsey pens a great column on why he is lucky to do what he gets to do every day. Read the whole thing here.
You don't need to go to Turkey or Germany to have your cartoons censored—in this country newspaper publishers are more than happy to do it to their own. Case in point, Rob Rogers' cartoons seemed to have disappeared from the pages of his long-time paper The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Daily Cartoonist has the story, sourced […]
A big congrats to Jake Thrasher for winning the 2018 Mark of Excellence from Society of Professional Journalism! The SPJ award honors the best in student journalism. Thrasher was a finalist for last year’s Courage in Cartooning Award from the CRNI after receiving death threats for an anti-KKK cartoon in his university newspaper. And in […]
The Daily Cartoonist reports that Glenn McCoy has been let go from his long-time staff slot at the Belleville News-Democrat. No word on the reason, but considering the paper is owned by McClatchy, cutbacks are strong suspected. McCoy, who was an AAEC member for years, is one of the more prominent conservative editorial cartoonists working […]
Fourth Estate, a startup dedicated to "fostering, supporting and incubating a sustainable and vibrant free press" is looking to add a freelance cartoonist to their team."What I am looking for are some high quality editorial cartoons focused on the issues that are facing journalism and the free press. Ideally at least one cartoon weekly, preferably […]
Reading for your Sunday afternoon #1: Cartoonist Kevin Necessary reinvents himself as a comics journalist, helping to illustrate stories that can't necessarily be photographed. Poynter talks to the artist about his process and his work for a TV news station. https://www.poynter.org/news/local-tv-station-hired-cartoonist-tell-stories-are-tough-photograph
While cutting off essential body parts is an effective weight-loss strategy, it tends to have bad long-term health consequences. So it is that yet another cartoonist is let go and the position eliminated, all in the name of cost-cutting. North Carolina-based Indy Week is dropping its long-time political cartoonist Cullum Rogers without plans for a […]
Political cartoonist Lee Judge has stepped down from his paper after 37-years. That's a hell of run, these days. In an article discussing his departure, Judge says "As anyone paying attention already knows, The Star is going through changes, and my departure is one of those changes. You can curse the changes or adjust and […]
Cartoonist Bruce Beattie was apparently one of 48 staffers who were let go from the Daytona Beach News-Journal on Tuesday, as part of a 10% workforce reduction. The paper's editorial board was particularly hard hit, as only person remained who was not terminated, bought out, or accepted early retirement. Beattie has been with the News-Journal […]
A number of cartoonists have something to be thankful for: Ted Rall a new book, Robert Ariail a new gig, Dick Locher a new sculpture, David Brown a show in Brazil, and more! Read on…
After 35 years of political cartooning, Dwane Powell announced his retirement today.
Mike Lane, the former editorial cartoonist for the Baltimore Sun, announced last month that he has retired from editorial cartooning. Lane made the announcement in a letter to Daryl Cagle, whose Cagle Cartoons Syndicate carried his work. "My quitting editorial cartooning comes because it’s time, not because of my health," wrote Lane. The letter and Cagle's […]
As Ted Rall mentioned in his introduction to the Ink Bottle Award presentation, this year’s recipient may have possibily saved the AAEC. After our original convention sponsor, the Seattle P-I, closed early in 2009, and other corporate sponsors proved to be less than forthcoming, Ted went to this individual with his concerns that to not […]
“The clear message is that no matter how small a newspaper payroll needs to be in order for a paper to turn a profit, a decent staff cartoonist who connects with the audience is a smart part of that profit strategy.” — Matt Davies
After one of the briefest retirements on record, Bill Schorr has returned to editorial cartooning. Daryl Cagle, whose syndicate, Cagle Cartoons, Inc., will now carry Schorr’s work, made the announcement on his blog in August. “We’re very excited,” Cagle told E&P Online. “He’s a star. I read him as a kid growing up in L.A., […]
Scott Stantis to Fill Premier Position Left Vacant for Nearly a Decade
NEW YORK — The Chicago Tribune has hired Scott Stantis as its new staff editorial
cartoonist, filling the vacancy left by the death of Jeff MacNelly in 2000.
The Tribune’s hiring of Stantis reflects the paper’s renewed commitment to
return to its roots as a "crusading newspaper," which it believes
readers want and will lead to increased profitability.
Stantis, staff editorial cartoonist for The Birmingham (AL) News and the creator
of the syndicated comic strip "Prickly City," is a member and former
President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC).
In a recent article on The Huffington Post, editor-turned-freelance writer Jason Notte said: “If newspaper’s death knell is ringing, editorial cartoonists are pulling the rope.” Ignoring the fact that his chest-thumping piece, “Ten Features that Are Dying with your Newspaper,” was yet another in the newspapers-are-dead-do-you-hear-me-dead! category Huffpo is apparently trying to corner, I kinda […]
As our current model collapses around us — whether it is a business model, employer model or, in the case of the AAEC, convention sponsor model — the debate on what to do next grows louder. While no one’s figured out a solution yet, at least we’re talking about it. Here are two recent discussions, […]
Call it media illiteracy. It’s the pervasive lack of knowledge about what a political cartoon is supposed to be, and what it’s supposed to do...
The AAEC John Locher Memorial Fellowship is awarded each year to one early-career cartoonist whose work demonstrates clear opinions and strong artistry on political and social topics. Deadline to be considered is the end of March.
The Locher Fellow will receive a one-year Regular membership in the AAEC, be a guest of the CXC Festival — held every fall in Columbus, Ohio — and have the opportunity to meet with editorial cartoonists during the year of the Fellowship for portfolio reviews and career advice.
Every two weeks throughout the year, The Learning Forum and the AAEC offers CARTOONS FOR THE CLASSROOM, a free lesson resource for teachers discussing current events. Visit NIEonline.com for more lesson plans.
