Editorial Cartoons: The Impact and Issues of an Evolving Craft

Journalist’s Trade: Editorial Cartoons: The Impact and Issues of an Evolving Craft

Winter 2004: Editorial Cartoons Introduction

By Melissa Ludtke• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

Many newspapers have decided not to hire a full-time editorial cartoonist, but instead publish the readily available work of syndicated cartoonists. To explore what impact these decisions and other changing circumstances related to editorial cartoons have on journalism, Nieman Reports asked cartoonists, editorial page editors, and close observers of cartooning to write out of their experiences and share their observations about how the long-time role that cartoons have played in journalism and democracy is being affected. – Melissa Ludtke, Editor Read more

Are We Witnessing the Dusk of a Cartooning Era?

By Matt Davies• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

What will newspapers do ‘when the last salaried cartoonist drops dead and suddenly there’s nothing to publish in that box on all these editorial pages’? Read more

Cartoonists Reach Out to Educators

By Matt Davies• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

Using a curriculum overseen by AAEC, teachers can give students “a clearer understanding of the enduring value of this daily newspaper art form.” Short of a diabolical plan to have members of the Association of American Editorial … Read more

The Evaporating Editorial Cartoonist

By J.P. Trostle• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

‘… editorial cartoon jobs are increasingly left unfilled or are eliminated entirely after a cartoonist leaves a paper.’ Read more

What Publishers Think About Editorial Cartoons

By Bruce Plante• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

Unexpected benefits are found by some publishers, while others don’t even bother to ask readers about the cartoon’s impact. Read more

Interviewing for a Job Illuminates Some Critical Issues

By Ted Rall• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

‘Take a job under impossible conditions and you invariably get fired.’ Read more

Editorial Page Editors and Cartoonists: A Difficult Alliance

By John Zakarian• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

‘A cartoonist’s world is black and white, while an editor’s universe is imbued with shades of gray.’ Read more

The Fixable Decline of Editorial Cartooning

By Chris Lamb• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

Editorial page editors and business decisions combine to weaken what is the strength of editorial cartoons. Read more

Freedom of Speech and the Editorial Cartoon

By Doug Marlette• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

‘Cartoons are the acid test of the First Amendment.’ Read more

Why Political Cartoons are Losing Their Influence

By Patrick Oliphant• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

‘How did it happen that such a confrontational art form … could be allowed to fall into disregard, disuse and ultimate dismissal?’ Read more

The Red, White and Blue Palette

By Ann Telnaes• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

What happens when cartoonists let fear and pressure soften their vigilant voices? Read more

Where the Girls Aren’t

By Signe Wilkinson• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

Why editorial cartooning is still a boy’s sport. Read more

Debunking the Explanations Given for Lost Jobs

By Joel Pett• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

A cartoonist offers reasons why editorial page cartoons need to survive. Read more

Martha Stewart or Genocide: The Cartoonists’ Conundrum

By Steve Kelley• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

The role of humor in editorial cartoons is being debated. Read more

Local Cartoons Can Convey Universal Significance

By Mary Ann Lindley• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

Our cartoonist called Florida the place where ‘America is working out its fate.’ Read more

Understanding the Value of the Local Connection

By Scott Stantis• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

‘… my cartoons provide another opportunity to carry on a conversation with the people who live here.’ Read more

Squeezing Originality Out of Editorial Cartoons

By Ed Stein• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

‘The resulting sameness of so much of our work has left us vulnerable.’ Read more

Animation and the Political Cartoon

By Mark Fiore• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

These cartoons ‘can reach inside someone’s brain and grab just the right spot.’ Read more

Drawing the Country’s Mood

By Jeff Danziger• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

‘… a drawing can pierce the emotional heart of a story deeper than the most gifted verbal lapidaries.’ Read more

An Historic Look at Political Cartoons

By Harry Katz• Journalist’s Trade• December 15, 2004

‘The future of editorial cartooning in America is uncertain, but the past holds lessons for us all.’ Read more