Cathy Wilcox bids a relunctant farewell

 

Cathy Wilcox is ending her run as cartoonist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, part of a wider tranche of redundancies at the newspaper group. 

It has been gratifying to see the high level of support and well-wishes the announcment of her retirement has precipitated. 

In addition to a final week of cartoons that made explicit her feelings about several important matters, on her way out she had a word to say on the encroachment of A.I. upon the profession.

Dave Brown loses "Independent" post

 

British cartoonist Dave Brown was laid off, due to budget cuts, after 30 years at The Independent.

The Baltimore Sun sets for Kal

From Substack.

I am disappointed to announce that after 31 years of award-winning cartoons in The Baltimore Sun, I was abruptly dismissed from the paper on Friday.

It was just a matter of time.

In February of 2024, David Smith, the conservative owner of the Sinclair Broadcasting group purchased the struggling paper. 

As my politics do not align with the new owners, I assumed my days were numbered. 

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:

Michael de Adder fired from the Halifax Chronicle Herald

From Reddit.

We have just learned that cartoonist Michael de Adder has been let go from the Halifax Chronicle Herald after working there for almost 30 years.

There will only be two editorial cartoons per week in the Chronicle Herald from now on.

In related news, SaltWire had just been sold to Postmedia, Canada’s largest newspaper publisher majority owned by the U.S. hedge fund Chatham Asset Management. 

Chatham is also the majority owner of US-based McClatchy newspapers which last year fired their three staff editorial cartoonists and has given up on political cartoons on their papers’ opinion pages.

Also:

Michael de Adder Let Go by Postmedia – Update in The Daily Cartoonist,

Clay Jones A Casualty of CNN Downsizing

From The Daily Cartoonist. 

Clay Jones informed fans and supporters last night that his CNN engagement has come to an end:

… One of the assistant editors, Jane, informed me last Friday (July 12) that after five years, I no longer had a freelance gig with CNN. The editor of the opinion section, Rich, gave me a courtesy call this morning to express his appreciation and to wish me well. 

I’m going to miss working with the Opinion team at CNN, but I never allowed myself to believe this would last forever…

de Adder Toast at the Post

From The Daily Cartoonist.

It has been nearly a month since Michael de Adder‘s last weekly cartoon for The Washington Post.

Three years ago Michael, after freelancing for the paper, was signed as a contract cartoonist to The Washington Post and charged with supplying three cartoons a week.

Star Tribune Eliminates Staff Editorial Cartoonist Position

From The Daily Cartoonist.

The Star Tribune is moving on without an editorial cartoonist, following an announcement Monday that Mike Thompson would be moved from a full-time role to a freelance position.

The independent Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Mike Thompson, who the newspaper hired in April of this year as a staff editorial cartoonist, will now be working for the paper in a freelance position.

Steve Breen Leaves The Union-Tribune

From The Daily Cartoonist.

Another Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist has lost his position with his newspaper.

Steve Breen, cartoonist for The San Diego Union-Tribune, will no longer be a regular presence at the newspaper. 

The steady decline of opinion pages in newspapers

From CTV News.

Cartoon by Scott Stantis

Even during a year of sobering economic news for media companies, the layoffs of three Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonists on a single day hit like a gut punch.

The firings of the cartoonists employed by the McClatchy newspaper chain last week were a stark reminder of how an influential art form is dying, part of a general trend away from opinion content in the struggling print industry.

The McClatchy chain fires three editorial cartoonists

Mike Peterson in The Daily Cartoonist.

(Jack Ohman — Pulitzer Prize, 2016)

(Joel Pett — Pulitzer Prize, 2000)

(Kevin Siers — Pulitzer Prize, 2014)

The McClatchy chain of newspapers, which has been struggling in bankruptcy for more than three years, has decided to cut costs by eliminating three of the USA’s leading editorial cartoonists. 

You can click on the above links to view their Pulitzer entries. 

‘Dilbert’ dropped after cartoonist’s racist rant

From The Washington Post.

Newspapers across the United States have pulled Scott Adams’s long-running “Dilbert” comic strip after the cartoonist called Black Americans a “hate group” and said White people should “get the hell away from” them.

Stuart Carlson Dies at 66

 From The Daily Cartoonist.

Stuart Carlson, who was the cartoonist for the Milwaukee Sentinel and the Journal Sentinel from 1983 to 2008, died Friday June 10th at age 66.

Jeff Koterba laid off from the Omaha World Herald

Editorial cartoonist Jeff Koterba announced on Facebook today that he was laid off trom the Omaha World Herald after 31 years of daily cartoons at his hometown newspaper.

Nate Beeler laid off from The Columbus Dispatch

Cartoonist Nate Beeler was laid off yesterday from The Columbus Dispatch which he joined in March 2012.

Rick McKee laid off from The Augusta Chronicle

Editorial cartoonist Rick McKee was laid off from The Augusta Chronicle after 21 years with the paper. His last cartoon will be published July 20th.