OPC Renames Cartoon Award
by Patricia Kranz
NEW YORK, December 17, 2018—The OPC Board of Governors has decided to make a change to the OPC’s award for best cartoons on international affairs. Since 1978, the award has been named for Thomas Nast, an influential American cartoonist in the 19th century. However, Nast’s legacy includes cartoons that exhibited an ugly bias against immigrants, the Irish and Catholics.
“The Board had a thoughtful and robust conversation regarding the issues brought to light regarding some of Thomas Nast’s editorial cartoons,” said OPC President Pancho Bernasconi. “Once we became aware of how some groups and ethnicities were portrayed in a manner that is not consistent with how journalists work and view their role today, we voted to remove his name from the award.”
The Overseas Press Club is an international association of journalists based in New York City that works to encourage the highest standards in journalism, to educate the next generation of foreign correspondents and to promote international press freedom and the well-being of colleagues in the field.
