Filed under: Editorial Cartooning

In an age when computer users are looking for more and more sophistication in their ?content,? this was about as technically sophisticated as cartoons get.Cartoonists may need to get more sophisticated about computers in other ways, too.Even if they are not into full animation, many already have regular commentaries, or ?blogs,? and their own websites.Others, notably Daryl Cagle, are trying to sell their drawn cartoons via the Internet.That?s providing outlets for cartoonists who have been squeezed out of jobs at big newspapers in the last few years.  The number of full-time editorial cartoonists in the United States is now about 90, according to the association.Many cartoonists, myself included, have other jobs besides coming up with their concoctions of commentary, art and humor.What does this decline in full-time cartoonists mean?The president of the group, full-time cartoonist and Pulitzer winner Clay Bennett, wrote in November, ?There are few journalists in a newsroom who can define the tone and identity of a publication like an editorial cartoon does.

Cagle’s Web Log!:Every year the membership of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) votes on the “Golden Spike” award for the best cartoon that was killed by an editor which should not have been killed by an editor.  This year’s winning spiked cartoon (below) is by Canadian cartoonist, Michael DeAdder of the Halifax Daily News.

Would you like to vent these feelings in public – under the blanket of the U.S. Constitution – and make a few bucks besides?The Times Herald-Record is looking for an editorial cartoonist to comment on local issues…. A sense of humor is a must.If you’re interested, send some samples (they cannot be returned) along with a resume to Bob Gaydos, editorial page editor, Times Herald-Record, 40 Mulberry St., Middletown 10940.

According to this story on ICv2.com, John Kovalic will produce a quarterly editorial cartoon commenting on the game industry for ICv2 Retailers Guide.

KAL did a demonstration of the puppet at the AAEC convention in Denver and was officially unveiled at a press conference Monday (and will again on the 25th at the Baltimore’s Walters Art Museum where KAL’s exhibit “Mightier Than in Sword: The Satirical Pen of KAL”Cartoonist’s Digital Bush Puppet to Debut:There’s life after The Sun of Baltimore for editorial cartoonist Kevin “KAL” Kallaugher — and part of that life involves George W….  3 exhibit entitled “Mightier Than the Sword: The Satirical Pen of KAL.”The puppet will converse and answer questions in “real time” at the June 12 and June 25 events, said KAL, adding that digital Dubya “can be animated daily in reaction to current news.”KAL discussed and showed footage of the Bush puppet at the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists convention in Denver, and also talked about his creation with E&P.

Pat Bagley, editorial cartoonist for the Salt Lake Tribune, was interviewed yesterday by local public radio KCPW about his new book, “Curious George is Watching You.”  They also touch on Pat’s liberal leanings that Give the interview a listen.

According to E&P, a weekly television show called “Party Toons” is being planned for Oregon Public Television – should the funding be secured….  A pilot episode has already been created and features Steve Sack, editorial cartoonist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and Steve Breen, of the San Diego Union Tribune.

Jake Fuller, the editorial cartoonist for the Gainesville Sun was recently interviewed by his own paper for a podcast (or as they call it, a ‘Suncast’)….  What is it about political cartoons that causes controversy especially in religion?

Fan’s of Salt Lake Tribune’s editorial cartoonist Pat Bagley can visit with him this Thursday at the Kings English Bookshop at 7:00 pm….  This latest Clueless George book is a sequel to an earlier book called “Clueless George Goes to War.”

On his screen then was the original Yahoo search preview image and under it a Newsweek page with a small image of the magazine’s current cover with the headline “The Haditha Question.”  Higgins made the erroneous assumption that the image in the photo preview was a photograph of victims of the killings that unproved allegations say were committed by U.S. Marines.

The AAEC convention concluded this weekend and a few stories are still trickling in. From the prolific Editor and Publisher editor Dave Astor we have several stories: Editorial Cartoonists Group Seeks Funds Beyond Herb Block Grant:DENVER The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists has used a lot of the $150,000 Herb Block Foundation grant it received in 2004 to improve its EditorialCartoonists.com site….  The first three are Pulitzer Prize winners from 2005, 2002, and 2004, respectively, while Sack has been a Pulitzer finalist.Cartoonists’ Award Sparks Protest:The Cartoonists Rights Network (CRN) has given its Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award to the 11 Danish artists who drew the Prophet Muhammad.Cartoonists from Cuba and Algeria at U.S. Confab:The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) has two interesting guests at its convention here — a cartoonist from Algeria and another who recently defected from Cuba.Cartoonists from Cuba and Algeria at U.S. Confab:National Public Radio host Scott Simon discussed Judith Miller, Ann Coulter, Stephen Colbert, and the Danish cartoon controversy during keynote remarks at the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) convention here Saturday night.And from the Denver Post comes this report: ‘toon townJust what state are editorial cartoonists in?Editorial cartoonists see the world through a much different lens than the rest of us (read: bent).

Several stories are pouring in about this year’s annual Association of American Editorial Cartoonist who are holding their convention in Denver this year.From a Rocky Mountain News comes an editorial contrasting the difference between the way the America deal with cartoons that offend a religious group versus how Europe is shrinking free speech.Dave Astor, from Editor and Publisher, has filed a related story in E&P about the heated debate regarding the roll of cartooning in free speech when it comes to topics of religions.Dave has also filed a story about former U.S. Senator Gary Hart a speaker at the convention who spoke mostly of the Iraq war and how the media isn’t telling more of the impact of the war on the individuals who served in it.

Steve was in San Diego when Katrina hit and continue to lives there sending in his cartoons via Kinkos.The video segment of the interview is now available on Google Video.  The whole segment is 25 minutes long – Steve gets the last 10 minutes (skip ahead to 16:50 to avoid the discussion of the problems of urbanites moving to the rural areas and then complaining about the odor of the farms and ranches).

If you were to judge Ed Hall solely by the cartoons in his latest book “Diversions,” you’d quickly group him into the hate-mongering-anti-Bush crowd. What perhaps does not come through in the book is that Ed is a registered Republican and was a “W” voting resident of Florida – the state that put President George […]

For those who subscribe to the Daily Cartoonist’s RSS feeds and perhaps don’t visit the actual site, I’d like to direct your attention to the latest In Focus article….� This latest installment features editorial cartoonist Ed Hall, who I had the privilege of getting to know recently.His book is called “Diversions” and was self published back in March, and I hope you’ll take the time to read about it here on the Daily Cartoonist.