Mike Thompson, Detroit Free Press vs. Nate Beeler, The Columbus Dispatch.
#!&%!! "Stop them damn pictures!!” raged the infuriated politician, “I don't care what the paper writes about me. My constituents can't read. But, damn it, they can see the pictures!" In that case it was Boss Tweed famously raging about the devastating lampoons launched by Thomas Nast-- a cartoon attack that would eventually bring down Tweed and end his corrupt reign over New York City.
Today them #!&% pictures zip across the new digital landscape -- needling, infuriating, engaging and entertaining people on the web, in emails, on smart phones and iPads. From traditional newsprint to the blogosphere, Facebook and the Twitterverse, political cartooning is alive and well.
From the beginning of our country’s history up to today, cartoons have played an important role in U.S. political life. Paul Revere and Ben Franklin roused the rabble with cartoons, leading a revolution. Since then, political cartoons have called us to defend the nation from foreign foes and defend our freedoms from domestic forces. They make us stop and think -- and maybe stop and laugh.
As journalism figures out how to survive the shift to the light speed and micro-news cycles of the digital age, one small corner is adapting and even flourishing. Political cartoons, though as old as newspapering itself, are perfect for to the hyper speeds and truncated attention spans of today’s media consumers.
To celebrate this enduring craft, the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists is hosting #!&% CARTOONS!! A Festival Celebrating the Political Cartoon.
Featuring the nation’s best cartoonists and caricaturists, #!&% CARTOONS!!, in partnership with George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, will take over Jack Morton Auditorium on the GWU campus for two days of presentations, drawing and other 'toon foolery.
The AAEC is a multipartisan bunch, representing the full gam ...More...
- 2012_DC_AAEC_CDM_120914: DC -- GWU -- AAEC -- #!&% Cartoons! -- Cartoon Death Match (79 photos from 2012)
- 2012_DC_AAEC_Misc_120914: DC -- GWU -- AAEC -- #!&% Cartoons! -- Miscellaneous (107 photos from 2012)
- 2012_DC_AAEC_Panel1_120914: DC -- GWU -- AAEC -- #!&% Cartoons! -- Panel 1: Welcome and Great American Political Cartoon (104 photos from 2012)
- 2012_DC_AAEC_Panel2_120914: DC -- GWU -- AAEC -- #!&% Cartoons! -- Panel 2: Into the Matrix: Man vs. Machine (37 photos from 2012)
- 2012_DC_AAEC_Panel3_120914: DC -- GWU -- AAEC -- #!&% Cartoons! -- Panel 3: Cartooning Outside the Box: The Political Cartoon Evolves (28 photos from 2012)
- 2012_DC_AAEC_Panel4_120914: DC -- GWU -- AAEC -- #!&% Cartoons! -- Panel 4: Comics Journalism: Cartoonists Are on the Story (12 photos from 2012)
- 2012_DC_AAEC_Panel5_120914: DC -- GWU -- AAEC -- #!&% Cartoons! -- Panel 5: Man vs. Machine, Round 2 (23 photos from 2012)
- 2012_DC_AAEC_Panel6_120914: DC -- GWU -- AAEC -- #!&% Cartoons! -- Panel 6: Campaign 2012, The View from Left Field (19 photos from 2012)
- 2012_DC_AAEC_Panel7_120914: DC -- GWU -- AAEC -- #!&% Cartoons! -- Panel 7: Blown Covers, New Yorker Covers You Were Never Meant to See (64 photos from 2012)
- 2012_DC_AAEC_Panel8_120914: DC -- GWU -- AAEC -- #!&% Cartoons! -- Panel 8: Campaign 2012, The View from Right Field (96 photos from 2012)
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