On the Line

Anthony Feinstein in The Globe & Mail.

Strongmen have an extraordinarily thin skin when it comes to laughing at themselves.

It is a striking that these men with enormous power, vast armies, lethal weapons, and apparently limitless self-confidence fear the simple cartoon. 

Is it because they know instinctively that Mark Twain was correct when he had one of his characters observe, “Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand”? 

Hitler’s fury at being lampooned by the cartoons of David Low pales, however, when compared to the violence unleashed more than half a century later by 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. 

Chinese dissident on trial

From The Guardian.

Miss Mao

Chinese dissident artist Gao Zhen, known for making satirical sculptures of China’s former leader Mao Zedong, has been tried over accusations of “defaming national heroes and martyrs”.

Gao, 69, who was detained in 2024 during a visit to China from the US, faces a maximum three-year prison sentence.

Drawing the Line: An Evening with Political Cartoonists

From Media and Democracy Project.

Since before the founding of the country, there have been political cartoons, often mocking the powerful with sharp humor, capturing the absurdity of the moment, shaping public opinion, and even exposing corruption. 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and in today’s fast paced digital world an image can be shared in the blink of an eye, changing hearts and minds.

With censorship and threats on the rise for the press, including political cartoonists, join us for this special evening with three award-winning political cartoonists who will take us behind the scenes on how they distill the news into a single image and the role that political satire plays in defending democracy.

“Under Pressure”: Report on the Situation of Threatened Press Cartoonists Worldwide (2023–2025)

From Cartooning for Peace.

Niels Bo Bojesen (Denmark)

The new report on the situation of threatened press cartoonists around the world will be released on March 2, 2026. 

It is the result of a joint effort by Cartooning for Peace, Cartoonists Rights and their partners: Freedom Cartoonists Foundation, FORHUM, Columbia Global Freedom of Expression – Columbia University, and Reporters Without Borders.

Cartoonists Rights Pledge Drive 2025

From Cartoonists Rights.

Every holiday season Cartoonists Rights asks for your direct support in aid of our mission to defend cartoonists whose freedom of expression is threatened simply because of what they draw, leading to their criminalization, displacement, judicial harassment, physical or verbal abuse, or worse.

Coming to the end of a very hard year in our sector and looking ahead to the next, we face two challenges common to all American non-profits with an international remit:

"Censure en Amérique"

Mike Peterson in The Daily Cartoonist. 

Censorship in America: A dialogue in words and pictures by the ex-cartoonists of the New York Times and Washington Post” is a conversation between Patrick Chappatte and Ann Telnaes published by a French publishing house in a large (9″x11″, 224 pages), gorgeous book that shows how much more seriously cartooning is regarded there than it is here.

US Cartooning Tradition in Peril

From The Daily Cartoonist. 

In January, the Washington Post spiked a cartoon by Pulitzer Prize–winning Ann Telnaes that criticized the supplicant attitude displayed by the paper’s billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos, towards Donald Trump … 

She promptly resigned after the incident, the first time one of her pieces had been rejected over its subject.

For 31 years, KAL contributed his award-winning cartoons to the Baltimore Sun. 

When MAGA censorship hits home

From Felipe Galindo's Facebook page.

The White House published the article: "President Trump Is Right About The Smithsonian", to my surprise, an artwork of mine, displayed at the Smithsonian American History Museum is on a “list” of objectionable artworks (selected by The Federalist, a conservative publication,) stating that the image is "promoting open borders by depicting migrants watching fireworks through an opening in the US-Mexico border wall."

Cartoonists Under Threat

From Cartoonists Rights Network International and Cartooning for Peace.

MALAYSIA – Fahmi Reza

Malaysian cartoonist Fahmi Reza, who was due to travel to Singapore for a few days on June 7 to attend a concert, was unable to board his flight at Kuala Lumpur international airport. 

The immigration authorities informed him that he was banned from leaving the country by the police, without specifying the reason for this measure. On May 29, Fahmi Reza had been banned from entering the State of Sabah by the local authorities.

These restrictions come four months after Fahmi Reza was arrested in Sabah after publishing cartoons critical of the State’s governor, who has been accused of corruption. He has since been investigated, notably under the Sedition Act.

In the local press, the police denied the existence of a travel ban, but claimed that Fahmi Reza was on a watch list because of the ongoing investigation into his case.

Cartoonists’ & free speech orgs in support of LeMan magazine

From Cartoonists Rights International.

The undersigned are appalled by the victimization of staff at LeMan humor magazine, Istanbul in recent days, following the publication June 26th of a cartoon strip by Doğan Pehlevan, the content, meaning, and intent of which has been distorted by government officials in Turkey, leading to inaccurate media coverage and misguided public outrage and, ultimately, four jailed on multiple charges, two more colleagues wanted by police, and the entire entity under investigation for accepting foreign influence.

• Association of Canadian Cartoonists / L’Association de caricaturistes Canadien
• Daryl Cagle – Cagle Cartoons, Inc. (Newspaper Syndicate)
• Cartoon Movement
• Cartooning for Peace
• Cartoonists Rights
• Columbia Global Freedom of Expression
• European Cartoon Award
• Forum for Humour and the Law (ForHum)
• Freedom Cartoonists Foundation
• Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC Strategy
• Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation (PCO)
• ToonsMag

"License to Offend" Exhibition cancelled ‘over fears of offence’

From The Telegraph.

An exhibition of Fleet Street cartoons titled Licence to Offend, scheduled to go on public view in Kingston-upon-Thames, has been cancelled, apparently because the cartoons might offend someone.

The Kingston Riverside is operated by TownSq, which takes over unused public buildings and runs them as workspaces.

"Capitulation is contagious"

Adrienne LaFrance in the March issue of The Atlantic.

By killing a cartoon that lampooned its owner, The Washington Post set a dangerous precedent.

UPenn Lays Off Cartoonist Mr. Fish

From The Daily Cartoonist.

Days after the Trump Administration froze $175 million in federal funding the University of Pennsylvania has terminated the employment of progressive Lecturer (and Cartoonist) Dwayne Booth, aka Mr. Fish.

From the Mr. Fish Patreon page:

Paper Prints Danziger Cartoon, Publisher Apologizes, Fires Editor

The owners of The Palm Beach Post fired editorial page editor Tony Doris last month after the paper published the above Jeff Danziger cartoon and later condemned it as antisemitic.

The full story here.

The uncertain future of editorial cartooning

From Fast Company.

Fast Company conducted a Zoom roundtable with a trio of some of the best political artists and illustrators working today: Pulitzer Prize winner Barry Blitt, Pulitzer Prize winner Jack Ohman, and Pulitzer finalist and Herblock Prize winner Jen Sorensen.

Nominations Open for Courage in Cartooning Award

From The Daily Cartoonist.

Cartoonist Rights has announced they are now taking nominations for the 2025 Robert Russell Courage in Cartooning Award. 

The award recognizes a cartoonist’s exemplary bravery while facing threats to their human rights.

The Latrobe Bulletin will do away with editorial cartoons

From The Daily Cartoonist.

The Latrobe (PA) Bulletin has decided they can no longer publish opinion pieces – oops, make that political cartoons – “because we strive to better the community, not divide it.”

Cartoonist Lee Judge‘s commentary was the source of controversy in a red part of the purple state.

Political Cartoonists on facing Donald Trump

Zach Rabiroff in The Comics Journal.

Trump's ABC by Ann Telnaes

Zach Rabiroff for The Comics Journal investigates the state of political cartooning as the practitioners face a revitalized and seemingly very powerful Donald Trump who is entering his second term as President of the United States with few limits in his way. 

Ann Telnaes Quits The Washington Post

From Open Windows.

(rough of cartoon killed)

I’ve worked for the Washington Post since 2008 as an editorial cartoonist. 

I have had editorial feedback and productive conversations—and some differences—about cartoons I have submitted for publication, but in all that time I’ve never had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at. 

Until now.

Maison du dessin de presse to open in 2027

From Sortir à Paris.

After a long period of uncertainty, Culture Minister Rachida Dati has confirmed that the Maison du dessin de presse will indeed open in Paris' 6th arrondissement in 2027.

Unveiled in 2020, during the President's wishes to the press, the project to create a Maison du Dessin de Presse seemed to have been forgotten.