Rob Rogers didn't want the job, but he is now the poster cartoonist for How to Get Fired. After a protracted battle with an increasingly pro-Trump publisher, Rogers was unceremoniously dumped this summer by his long-time newspaper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, for failing to toe the toady line laid down by a new editor. With the help of angry readers, concerned citizens and social media, Rogers was able to parley a bad deal into international coverage and increased attention.

While he has a new fans nationwide, he still understands the importance of local, having been an integral part of the Pittsburgh news landscape for 34 years. In addition to his daily cartoons, Rogers created "Brewed on Grant," a local comic strip ran in the Post-Gazette for a total of 22 years and was, as he likes to point out, "one of the most popular features in the paper."

[Throughout his life, Rex Babin championed those who focused on state and local issues in editorial cartoons, a field that he and other cartoonists felt was regularly overlooked by journalism contests. The "Rex Babin Memorial Award for Excellence in Local Cartooning" was launched in 2017 to celebrate those working in this niche. To that end, we will be showcasing each cartoonist who entered the contest this year, one or two each day in alphabetical order (more or less), leading up to the AAEC Convention in Sacramento, CA, and the announcement of the award winner on Saturday, Sept. 22.]