me twice what they should have for one cartoon, just to keep me there so that they could quietly let me out the door.
Friday, March 22, 2024
Michael de Adder on his Washington Post tenure
me twice what they should have for one cartoon, just to keep me there so that they could quietly let me out the door.
Friday, February 09, 2024
Michael de Adder on former WaPo job at X/Twitter
Thursday, December 28, 2023
Hannah Good to edit comics pages & Daily Cartoonist adds to WaPo buyout news
Hannah Good
Washington, D.C.
Education: Western Kentucky University, BA in English
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
WaPo loses all writers about comics as Cavna and Betancourt depart
Michael Cavna
Washington, D.C.
Education: University of California, San Diego, Literature/Writing
Professional Affiliations: Society for Features Journalism, National Society of Newspaper Columnists
Books by Michael Cavna:
"Team Cul de Sac: Cartoonists Draw the Line at Parkinson's" (text)
David Betancourt
Washington, D.C.
Education: Radford University, BA in media studies
Languages spoken in addition to English: Spanish
Thursday, August 31, 2023
WaPo's Lily Lines and The Nib both end today
From the last LL newsletter (500 comics!) -
For six years, it's been our pleasure to deliver essential stories about gender and identity to your inbox with Lily Lines. During this time, the Lily team made an award-winning documentary, published nearly 500 comics, read dozens of books together and shared plenty of Your Takes. More recently, one of our former team members, Caroline Kitchener, won a Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on abortion — stories that were always a priority for the Lily and its readers.
As the team takes on new roles at The Post dedicated to this coverage, this is the final issue of the Lily Lines newsletter. You can still find our reporting and perspectives on gender and identity across the site, but especially in our reimagined Style section, which launches soon.
The corresponding Style Memo newsletter will cover the personalities, conversations and cultural trends that shape American life. Lily Lines readers have been signed up to receive it in their inbox starting Sept. 8.
Until next time,
Team Lily 🖤
and Cavna on the Nib:
An era ends: How the Nib lifted the art of political comics journalism
Am I paranoid — or just prepared? How true crime made me more alert.
Being a true crime "fan" is complicated because you're often wrestling with consuming it as a form of entertainment and as a form of self preservation
Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Right-wing cartoonist Michael Ramirez joins WaPo on contract?
He's apparently joined Telnaes, de Adder, Pritchett and Rosen on contract? Is this being driven by owner Bezos who's eased out publisher Ryan by creating a job for him last week? Ramirez is definitely not in the tradition of Herblock and Toles, who were independent parts of the editorial team staff. And they have 5 cartoonists on contract, AFTER they terminated their syndicate, the WPWG, this year?
Michael Ramirez Has a Wash. Post Gig?
Sunday, May 28, 2023
WaPo letters on comics formatting and Ellis Rosen cartoons, also Edith Pritchett
Monumentally confusing [Ellis Rosen]
Randy Bograd,
Washington Post May 27 2023: A15
online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/05/26/reader-critiques-cleopatra-was-not-black/
We got it to fit — but it wasn't fit to print
Ted White,
Washington Post May 27 2023: A15
online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/05/26/reader-critiques-cleopatra-was-not-black/
Taking them in reverse order, Ted White is a former editor of Heavy Metal who doesn't have anything nice to say about the strip and calls it usually incomprehensible and 'assembled from stock bits on a computer.' Actually, Donna Lewis DOES draw it, but on a computer. The continuing sticking point to me is that the Post STILL identifies the strip as being Reply All Lite in its credits!
The first letter is in favor of Ellis Rosen's cartoon of the relaxing Washington Monument. This past week, WaPo published 2 more of Mr. Rosen's cartoons as 'editorial' cartoons, which they are STILL not. They're gag cartoons, or pocket (if you're British). One is a grey aliens gag about being quick in an abduction to get home early. The other is a family on a game show trying to get out a door while their two small children run around.
I'm perfectly ok with the Post giving Bezos' money to Rosen - just stop calling him an editorial cartoonist and running these on the editorial page. They would be just fine on the comics page or any other page on the paper.
Speaking of semi-editorial cartoons, this piece is also listed as an editorial cartoon - it comes a bit closer if you're Entertainment Weekly, which used to publish similar material by Barry Blitt early in his career. Again, does it deserve to be on the editorial pages of the Post? I think rather Style or Weekend would be appropriate. They also did her the disservice of printing it in black and white.
Highlights from the Cannes Film Festival, even if you don't like movies [in print as The (very unofficial) guide to the Cannes Film Festival]
By Edith Pritchett
Editorial cartoonist
Washington Post May 27, 2023: A17
Online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/05/25/edith-pritchett-cartoon-cannes-film-festival/
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
WaPo columnist vs editorial cartoonist
Is This Cartoon Racist? [by Matt Daniel]
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Good news from WaPo on cartoon journalism! Or illustrated reporting!
Solo travel can be risky. Here's how to stay safe. What I learned during my first New York City "taxi" ride
What it's like to travel as a transgender woman; For trans travelers, airport security can be an anxiety-inducing experience
An illustrated guide to the dogs you'll meet in New York City
Monday, May 15, 2023
WaPo doesn't understand comics 3: This is an editorial cartoon? [UPDATED]
WaPo doesn't understand comics 2: Sunday's biz section mess
WaPo doesn't understand comics 1: Today's Reply All LITE panel [CORRECTED]
Saturday, March 25, 2023
That darn Get Fuzzy...
Get 'Fuzzy' again, get funny againGerald Trabucco, Springfield
Washington Post March 25 2023: A15
online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/03/24/errors-post-ukraine-trump-readers-critique/
Gerald Trabucco, Springfield
Washington Post March 25 2023: A15
online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/03/24/errors-post-ukraine-trump-readers-critique/
Monday, December 26, 2022
The Post published 54 comics journalism strips not labelled as such in 2022
Lily Lines December 26 2022
https://s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-rw/?trackId=596c1be2ade4e24119c3d7be&s=63a98d04ef9bf67b23374652&linknum=5&linktot=40
Illustrations by Bea Hayward, Yulia Vus, Hyesu Lee, Tenzing Lhamo Dorjee, Pepita Sándwich
Friday, December 02, 2022
Wash Post presumably fires Bob Staake, as it ends longtime reader favorite Style Invitational contest
Washington Post
-Tom Toles - editorial cartoonist (semi-daily)
-Richard Thompson - Richard's Poor Almanac (Saturdays); Cul de Sac strip (Sunday's Magazine), illustrations for Joel Achenbach's Rough Draft column (Sunday's Magazine)
-Rob Shepperson, Tim Grajek - illustrations for Sunday's Business section
-Nick Galifianakis - cartoons for ex-wife Carolyn Hax's Tell Me About It advice column.
-Bob Staake - cartoons for Style Invitational contest (Sunday)
-Patrick M. Reynolds - Flashback comic strip; unique Washington version (Sunday comics)
-Eric Shansby - illustrations for Gene Weingarten's Below the Beltway column (Sunday's Magazine)
-Christopher Gash; Christopher Neimen - spot illos especially on Sunday
-Michael Cavna - editorial cartoons in Arts section, extremely irregularly
-Julie Zhu - Montgomery Blair High School student cartoonist for Extra Credit column in local Extra sections
-Saturday box of syndicated editorial cartoons
-Turkish cartoonist Selcuk Demirel illustrations in Book World, semi-regularly
Friday, October 14, 2022
Hannah Good starts cartoon fellowship at The Post
Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Strange coincidence in today's Post
There's a Wumo comic about a support animal alligator, while there is also an article elsewhere in the Style section about a real one. The world is getting weird.
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Meet Sergio Peçanha, Washington Post visual essayist
One of the pleasures of the Washington Post's digital version, besides national treasure Ann Telnaes, is Sergio Peçanha's work, much of which recalls the promise of webcomics that Scott McCloud predicted so many years ago. I was absolutely thrilled to make contact with him on Instagram, and ask him to do an interview. As is our wont, rather than straining to find new words, we'll just lift the Post's biography of him:
Sergio Peçanha is a visual columnist at the Opinions desk of the Washington Post. He uses visual elements like illustrations, cartoons, maps, information graphics and videos to tell stories. Before joining The Post in 2019, he was a graphics editor at The New York Times for more than a decade, where he created visual stories for the International desk and the New York desk. Peçanha graduated in journalism from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. His work has been recognized multiple times by the Society for News Design and the Malofiej infographics awards, in Spain, including Gold medals
What type of comic work or cartooning do you do? I called it editorial illustration when I reached out to you - is this accurate?
I think I'd say I do visual essays. I use cartoons, photography or any other sort of visual elements, like charts to tell visual stories. The language I use often borrows from the storytelling style common in children's picture books, but for an adult audience. The idea determines the visual and writing style I use. Sometimes I may not use pictures at all. (The links in my answers are examples of what I am referring to.)
How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?
I almost always do pencil sketches. Sometimes I use acrylic, pen and ink, iPad, Photoshop, after effects. I use anything that gets the job done.
How did you come to work for the Washington Post? Are you on contract, or on staff?
I studied journalism in Brazil and have been a visual journalist for more than 20 years. For 11 years, I worked at the graphics desk of the New York Times. I did information graphics, visual stories and multimedia. I came to the Post in 2019 to work doing multimedia, visual stories and graphics at the Opinions desk. But for me, the main reason to come here was to be able to do my column, where I can experiment with visual elements, humor and language. I'm on staff.
When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?
1976, Rio de Janeiro.
Are you in Washington now? If so, what neighborhood or area do you live in?
I live in Silver Spring, MD.
What is your training and/or education in cartooning?
No training in cartooning. I studied journalism in college and earned a masters degree in illustration a couple of years ago.
Who are your influences?
Many. Some are... Sempé; David Shrigley; David Hockney; R.O. Blechman; Steinberg; H.M. Bateman; Laura Carlin; Bill Watterson; Glen Baxter; Serge Bloch; Liana Finck; Maira Kalman; Laerte; Chico Caruso; Mariana Massarani; and of course, Ann Telnaes and Michael de Adder, who I can't believe I can call "my colleagues."
If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?
I was born in a lower middle class family in Rio de Janeiro. My path to this point highly is unlikely. So I wouldn't change anything.
What work are you best-known for?
I don't think I'm best known.
What work are you most proud of?
I am proud of Absurd America at the Post and for some of the multimedia storytelling that I helped to develop at the Times.
What would you like to do or work on in the future?
I wanna do a book. Maybe more than one. I have some ideas. But I also need to work on my ADHD.
What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?
I freak out and think I am a failure. I always talk to my wife. Also to my shrink, and close co-workers. I fish for ideas, but mostly lament. They are so nice to me, they cheer me up. When I think no one can stand my lamentations anymore, I hide and fail alone for some time. At that point, I think about changing jobs, because the suffering is intense. I become confident that people will realize that I'm a failure and I will be fired. After a lot of that suffering, eventually something happens. It's like delivering a baby, I guess.
What do you think will be the future of your field?
I think AI will do a lot of pasteurized stories and illustrations and most people will be happy about it. Still, there will be space for us — because humans can fail in ways that machines simply can not.
Any thoughts on the Pulitzer recently changing the editorial cartoon category to one that you appear to qualify in?
The Pulitzer is important because it values good work. That said, there is a lot of good work that is essential to journalism in the 21st century that is not eligible for the Pulitzer. For example: multimedia storytelling, photo editing, videos, information graphics... Just like there are Oscars for Best Picture and for Best Makeup, I think the Pulitzer could be expanded — and I see no reason to extinguish existing categories in that expansion.
You and Ann Telnaes teamed up on at least one piece - how did that come about?
Imagine that you get to play soccer with Pelé? That's how I felt.
Your recent work on COVID was just a data visualization of the numbers of people who died in the US represented on a map. This seems a little atypical for your work; can you explain why you chose to do it?
At the moment, my job at the Post is divided into two parts. On one side, I do visual storytelling and graphics. The other part is my column, Absurd America. One day I might only do my column. But I'm not there yet.
What's your favorite thing about DC?
I think it's a pretty city, good quality of life and not too cold (although it is still too cold for me).
Least favorite?
It doesn't have a beach and the winter is still pretty cold for me... Additionally, I think it's bizarre how it is racially divided. But that's not exclusive to DC...
What monument or museum do you like to take visitors to?
I think the area around the Lincoln Memorial is pleasant.
How about a favorite local restaurant?
La Limeña Grill in Rockville. Peruvian food.
Do you have a website or blog?
Pecanha.org
How has the COVID-19 outbreak affected you, personally and professionally?
Worked from home for 2 years and loved it. :-)