Annual Convention

Annual Convention October 5-8

The AAEC and Association of Canadian Cartoonists will be joining with the Cartoon Art Museum in San Franscisco for a 3-day celebration of editorial art and political cartoonists, October 5-8, 2023.

Online registration is now open!


“Are you daft?” — McClatchy Firings Draw Nationwide Attention to Bad Management

On Tuesday, July 11, McClatchy unceremoniously fired their three most prominent staff editorial cartoonists with no warning. Kevin Siers, of The Charlotte Observer, Joel Pett of the Lexington Herald-Leader, and Jack Ohman of The Sacramento Bee — all three Pulitzer Prizing-winning cartoonists — we’re the only three employees targeted in the latest round of layoffs […]

Job Shakeups So Far This Year

Cartoonists continue to come and go and … ok, mostly go. Sometime late in 2022, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s staff cartoonist Steve Kelley quietly left the newspaper he’d been at since 2018 — so quietly in fact, that there was no announcement until Tim Hartman posted on his Facebook page in January that he was now […]

Mike Thompson’s Big Adventure

Mike Thompson has had a tumultuous 2023. A year after he was unceremoniously sacked from his long-time gig at USA Today by new owners Gatehouse— er, that is, Gannett — Thompson was the winner of a nationwide search to follow up the stellar Steve Sack at the storied Minneapolis Star Tribune. https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2023/03/24/mike-thompson-joins-star-tribune-staff/ This was a […]

Shorter WaPo: Are newspaper editors cowards?

Michael Cavna sums up a rough fortnight for political cartoonists and newspaper editors, and asks an important question: What if publishers decide it’s too much trouble to do their damn job?   https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/06/23/political-cartoons-racist-small-newspapers/ “In my mind, editorial cartoons are expendable. None of them are produced by our staff, and rarely do they depict a local […]

Letter from the Editor: Daryl Cagle sounds the alarm

Daryl Cagle writes his congressman and sounds the alarm about the immediate danger facing newspapers, syndicates, small businesses—and freedom of the press. Cartoonists may be the canary in the coal mine, but this bird is singing. We’re running the entire letter here, as it makes points that have an impact on cartoonists across the industry. […]

Furlough you go

Filed under “Yeah, no” The Buffalo News took a rare stand (for editorial page editors that is) and told a reader in Letters to the Editor that No, they are NOT going to remove their editorial cartoonist just because the reader was offended by an opinion they didn’t agree with. Of course, the statement would […]

Another gig gone

We got an email the other day from cartoonist Jimmy Margulies, who wanted everyone to know yet another paper has dropped editorial cartoons. Margulies writes, “My first day back at work upon returning from the convention in Columbus [in October], I was told that my newspaper amNEW YORK was being sold by its owner Newsday […]

BloodBath at GateHouse

GateHouse Media, a chain that owns some 156 newspapers, continued its apparent quest to run them all into the ground. Just before Memorial Day weekend, GateHouse announced the purging of reporters and personnel at two dozen or more papers across the country, including laying off what may be the last three staff cartoonists on their […]

Steve Kelley hired by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has hired Steve Kelley as its new full-time editorial cartoonist. Kelley will be joining the staff of the Pennsylvania paper beginning Nov. 4, drawing five cartoons a week. In a brief phone interview, the cartoonist talked about the opportunity. "I'm just thankful to have another gig," said Kelley, who thought he might never […]

Mike Ramirez joins staff of the Las Vegas Review-Journal

Usually when you use "staff job" and "cartoonist" in the same sentence, it's a bad thing with an unhappy ending. Not this time. It was announced this week that editorial cartoonist Mike Ramirez has landed on the staff of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner (and AAEC President from 1997-1998) will be […]

Have you seen me?

You don't need to go to Turkey or Germany to have your cartoons censored—in this country newspaper publishers are more than happy to do it to their own. Case in point, Rob Rogers' cartoons seemed to have disappeared from the pages of his long-time paper The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Daily Cartoonist has the story, sourced […]

Jake Thrasher wins SPJ Mark of Excellence

A big congrats to Jake Thrasher for winning the 2018 Mark of Excellence from Society of Professional Journalism! The SPJ award honors the best in student journalism. Thrasher was a finalist for last year’s Courage in Cartooning Award from the CRNI after receiving death threats for an anti-KKK cartoon in his university newspaper. And in […]

Another one bites the dust

The Daily Cartoonist reports that Glenn McCoy has been let go from his long-time staff slot at the Belleville News-Democrat. No word on the reason, but considering the paper is owned by McClatchy​, cutbacks are strong suspected. McCoy, who was an AAEC member for years, is one of the more prominent conservative editorial cartoonists working […]

Huh. Someone’s actually looking to hire a cartoonist.

Fourth Estate, a startup dedicated to "fostering, supporting and incubating a sustainable and vibrant free press" is looking to add a freelance cartoonist to their team."What I am looking for are some high quality editorial cartoons focused on the issues that are facing journalism and the free press. Ideally at least one cartoon weekly, preferably […]

Sunday reading #1: Necessary reinvention

Reading for your Sunday afternoon #1: Cartoonist Kevin Necessary reinvents himself as a comics journalist, helping to illustrate stories that can't necessarily be photographed. Poynter talks to the artist about his process and his work for a TV news station.   https://www.poynter.org/news/local-tv-station-hired-cartoonist-tell-stories-are-tough-photograph  

AAEC Statement on cartoonist Cullum Rogers & Indy Week

While cutting off essential body parts is an effective weight-loss strategy, it tends to have bad long-term health consequences. So it is that yet another cartoonist is let go and the position eliminated, all in the name of cost-cutting. North Carolina-based Indy Week is dropping its long-time political cartoonist Cullum Rogers without plans for a […]

Lee Judge leaves Kansas City Star

Political cartoonist Lee Judge has stepped down from his paper after 37-years. That's a hell of run, these days. In an article discussing his departure, Judge says "As anyone paying attention already knows, The Star is going through changes, and my departure is one of those changes. You can curse the changes or adjust and […]

Bruce Beattie gone from the News-Journal

Cartoonist Bruce Beattie was apparently one of 48 staffers who were let go from the Daytona Beach News-Journal on Tuesday, as part of a 10% workforce reduction. The paper's editorial board was particularly hard hit, as only person remained who was not terminated, bought out, or accepted early retirement. Beattie has been with the News-Journal […]

Thanksgiving briefs

A number of cartoonists have something to be thankful for: Ted Rall a new book, Robert Ariail a new gig, Dick Locher a new sculpture, David Brown a show in Brazil, and more! Read on…

Mike Lane retires

Mike Lane, the former editorial cartoonist for the Baltimore Sun, announced last month that he has retired from editorial cartooning. Lane made the announcement in a letter to Daryl Cagle, whose Cagle Cartoons Syndicate carried his work. "My quitting editorial cartooning comes because it’s time, not because of my health," wrote Lane. The letter and Cagle's […]

Awards & Summer Briefs

As Ted Rall mentioned in his introduction to the Ink Bottle Award presentation, this year’s recipient may have possibily saved the AAEC. After our original convention sponsor, the Seattle P-I, closed early in 2009, and other corporate sponsors proved to be less than forthcoming, Ted went to this individual with his concerns that to not […]

A Save for Davies

“The clear message is that no matter how small a newspaper payroll needs to be in order for a paper to turn a profit, a decent staff cartoonist who connects with the audience is a smart part of that profit strategy.” — Matt Davies

Bill Schorr Back

After one of the briefest retirements on record, Bill Schorr has returned to editorial cartooning. Daryl Cagle, whose syndicate, Cagle Cartoons, Inc., will now carry Schorr’s work, made the announcement on his blog in August. “We’re very excited,” Cagle told E&P Online. “He’s a star. I read him as a kid growing up in L.A., […]

Chicago Tribune Hires Staff Editorial Cartoonist

Scott Stantis to Fill Premier Position Left Vacant for Nearly a Decade

NEW YORK — The Chicago Tribune has hired Scott Stantis as its new staff editorial
cartoonist, filling the vacancy left by the death of Jeff MacNelly in 2000.

The Tribune’s hiring of Stantis reflects the paper’s renewed commitment to
return to its roots as a "crusading newspaper," which it believes
readers want and will lead to increased profitability.

Stantis, staff editorial cartoonist for The Birmingham (AL) News and the creator
of the syndicated comic strip "Prickly City," is a member and former
President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC).

Your Layoff Update (Summer edition)

In a recent article on The Huffington Post, editor-turned-freelance writer Jason Notte said: “If newspaper’s death knell is ringing, editorial cartoonists are pulling the rope.” Ignoring the fact that his chest-thumping piece, “Ten Features that Are Dying with your Newspaper,” was yet another in the newspapers-are-dead-do-you-hear-me-dead! category Huffpo is apparently trying to corner, I kinda […]

Where to next?

As our current model collapses around us — whether it is a business model, employer model or, in the case of the AAEC, convention sponsor model — the debate on what to do next grows louder. While no one’s figured out a solution yet, at least we’re talking about it. Here are two recent discussions, […]

OUR MISSION

The mission of the AAEC is to champion and defend editorial cartooning and free speech as essential to liberty in the United States and throughout the world.

The AAEC aims to be an international leader in support of the human, civil, and artistic rights of editorial cartoonists around the world, and to stand with other international groups in support of the profession.



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CARTOONS IN EDUCATION

Cartoons in Education

Every two weeks throughout the year, The Learning Forum and the AAEC offers CARTOONS FOR THE CLASSROOM, a free lesson resource for teachers discussing current events.  Visit NIEonline.com for more lesson plans.