Pulitzer prize speculation begins

Editor and Publisher posted a story of who and what will catch the eye of the Pulitzer Prize judges this year. In the area of editorial cartooning, E&P makes the following conjecture:

As for Editorial Cartoonists, those having especially good years in 2005 included Nick Anderson of The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky.; Jeff Danziger of the New York Times Syndicate; Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Jeff Parker of Florida Today in Melbourne; Rob Rogers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; and, Doonesbury’s Garry Trudeau.

Anderson had an excellent year, but since he won in 2005, he will almost surely not repeat. Danziger, a Vietnam veteran, created insightful anti-Iraq War commentary and just won the Herblock Prize — which Matt Davies of the Journal News in White Plains, N.Y. won in 2004 before taking the Pulitzer soon after.

Luckovich won in 1995, but created a real buzz in 2005 with his anti-war “WHY” cartoon, which may be the most powerful cartoon of the year. Then there is Trudeau, who has not won since 1975, but has been a finalist several times since, most recently in the past two years.

In recent years the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning has been criticized for being decidely left/liberal in it selection. We shall see in a few months if the liberal trend continues or they throw a token bone to the conservatives.

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