Ann Telnaes to Receive the 2025 William Randolph Hearst Award and Gets Her Pulitzer
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The School of Journalism and Mass Communications at San José State has announced that political cartoonist Ann Telnaes‘ talents will be recognized with the 2025 William Randolph Hearst Award:
This November, the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at San José State will honor award-winning editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes with the 2025 William Randolph Hearst Award in recognition of her career as a journalist. One of the most influential editorial cartoonists today, Telnaes won the Pulitzer Prize in both 2021 and 2025 for her sharp visual storytelling and unflinching political critique. She worked for The Washington Post from 2008 until 2025, when she resigned after the newspaper refused to run one of her cartoons.
Telnaes was selected by a committee of Journalism and Mass Communications faculty members, says JMC School Director John Delacruz.
“I proposed a cartoonist this year, as I felt it was a good way to cross disciplines in the college, imagining synergies between illustration, journalism and political science,” says Delacruz. “Ann’s stand at The Washington Post elevated her name straight away, and digging into her work at a time when satire was coming under attack and the freedom of expression was under threat, made the decision a no-brainer.”
The Julia Halprin Jackson report also includes a short interview with Ann Telnaes.
What role do you see editorial cartooning play in democracy?
AT: Editorial cartoons and satire play a very important role in democracies. Everyone, regardless of their social standing or level of education, can understand and relate to cartoons. They truly are the great equalizer — autocrats especially dislike being the target of editorial cartoons because of their thin skin.
More Telnaes!
In a low-key ceremony The Pulitzer Prizes handed were out during their Autumn business meeting and dinner. Ann Telnaes shows the 2025 Pulitzer Prize trophy and citation at her Open Windows Substack.
Pulitzer Prize awarding ceremony video forthcoming? See the last paragraph:
Unlike the elaborate ceremonies and royal banquets attendant upon the presentation of the Nobel Prizes in Stockholm and Oslo, since 1984 Pulitzer winners have received their prizes from the president of Columbia University at a ceremony in the rotunda of the Low Library in the presence of family members, professional associates and Board members. (Held as a May luncheon for more than three decades, the ceremony has since evolved into an October dinner in tandem with the Board’s autumn business meeting.) While the Board has declined offers to transform the occasion into a television extravaganza, video of the awards presentation has often been shared on YouTube since 2012.
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