Is Ann Telnaes making far more money now than she did at WaPo?

by Mike Rhode

(Corrected 5/9 with the notice that she still has a free tier)

I don't know, I haven't asked her. But while the Post continues to claim her, insofar as the Pulitzers are concerned (with full page ads run at least for 2 days), she may be far better off without them. Here's her initial newsletter about quitting the paper over a squashed cartoon, and there's plenty more coverage spread throughout this blog.

In her Substack newsletter about winning the award, she wrote, "Due to you all, my Substack Open Windows has reached 100,000 subscribers!!" I don't believe she has a free tier anymore, just She still has a free tier, but if everyone paid for a subscription at $80/year or $8/month she would gross perhaps $8,000,000 to a maximum of $9,600,000.

Substack fees are described on their website.

From Substack: 10% of each transaction

From Stripe: Credit cards

A credit card fee (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction fee) and a Billing fee for recurring subscriptions (0.7% for recurring payments as of July 2024).

Their example shows the bite at about 20% on a $5 dollar payment.

If we use that back of the envelope, Ann might be netting $6,400,000 before taxes.* I find this stunningly hard to believe, but I hope it's true. A dish best served cold after all...

*I'm not an accountant or businessman so feel free to correct my thinking. 5/9: Thanks to Wim Lockefeer for pointing out she still has a free tier; my paid subscription version wouldn't show that to me.

Cartooning Would-be Kings event photos (UPDATED)

Journalists and editorial cartoonists around the world are facing unprecedented attacks.

Please join us May 5, in Washington, DC, to celebrate World Press Freedom Day with a panel of legendary cartoonists out on the front lines of free speech — and for the announcement of the 2025 Robert Russell Courage in Cartooning Award by Cartoonists Rights.

Katherine Jacobsen of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) will deliver a keynote address on the state of press freedom in the U.S. and share findings from CPJ's April 2025 U.S. Report.

Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship

PARTICIPANTS:

• Barry Blitt, The New Yorker

• Kevin "KAL" Kallaugher, The Economist

• Joel Pett, Tribune Content Agency

• Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Inquirer

KEYNOTE:

Katherine Jacobsen, U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists

MODERATOR:

Roslyn Mazer, SU alumna and free expression champion

Sponsored by Cartoonists Rights,  Committee to Protect Journalists,  Freedom Cartoonists, The Herb Block Foundation

Pett, Bliss, Signe, KAL

Roslyn Mazer

Herblock foundation heads Marcy and Sarah, Joel Pett, and local NCS chapter head Carolyn Belefski.  

Bro Russell and KAL

Barry Blitt (left)

Nik Kowsar (right)

Barry Blitt drawing of Jeff Bezos

Joel Pett drawing of Mitch McConnell

Matt Wuerker drawing of Elon Musk

Nik Kowsar drawing

 

 

 

 

KAL drawing of Trump

 

 

 

Joe Sutliff and Matt Wuerker

Katherine Jacobsen, Committee to Protect Journalists

Introducing the 2025 Robert Russell Courage in Cartooning Award

Zehra Ömeroğlu's pre-recorded speech accepting the award

Nik and KAL

Clay Jones snuck in

Political cartoonists on navigating a changing media landscape

Political cartoonists on navigating a changing media landscape
Jeffrey Brown:
PBS News Hour's CANVAS Art in Action, Apr 25, 2025 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/political-cartoonists-on-navigating-a-changing-media-landscape 

Alex Fine show at Dwightmess - opening night photos

I popped in briefly to say hello and check out the exhibit. We used to see his work regularly in the Washington Post Magazine, illustrating Gene Weingarten's column. Information on the show follows the pictures. This exhibit is mostly celebrity portraits. Here's Bruce Guthrie's photos.

 

Alex Fine

 

 And a Taylor Swift print for sale, but not on the wall. This was for an Economics journal based on the money generated by her Eras tour:

Hairhoppers & Showstoppers:
Portraits, Posters, and Editorial Art by Alex Fine

Bio: Alex Fine is a Baltimore-based illustrator with an extensive client list that includes TIME Magazine, Newsweek,  Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Wired, Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, Scholastic, Harper Collins, AT&T, Variety, Baltimore City Paper, and Politico. He is represented in North America and United Kingdom by SNYDER.

"My first art show in years and I’ll have a large collection of well coiffed portraits, band posters, and editorial art from years of magazine and newspaper work. Contact me or Dwightmess with any print requests and if you live in the DMV, hope to see you there!" ~Alex

Check out more of Alex's artwork !!--> @alexfineillos

Event Info:
Hairhoppers & Showstoppers:
Portraits, Posters, and Editorial Art by Alex Fine

Opening Reception:
Friday. January 10th. 7-9pm.

Location:
DWIGHTMESS
805 Silver Spring Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

In Solidarity with Ann Telnaes by Daniel Boris

Michael Ramirez finally addresses WaPo spineless non-endorsement in the WaPo

Guess which side he comes down on?

You're right! What a shock!

My initial blog post on this has now been updated 10x.  

Alexandra Bowman's first appearance on Counterpoint? updated

https://counterpoint.substack.com/p/new-perspectives-edition?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=3tf3m&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

 

Yes, it is ...

See my new political cartoon for Counterpoint!

My first cartoon in two years... we're off to the races!

Alexandra Bowman

Jun 28 2024 https://stateofthearts.substack.com/p/see-my-new-political-cartoon-for

 

On belatedly discovering Walt Carr

 Today I happened to check the Little Free Library in front of my house, and there was a political cartoon book in it. I wasn't familiar with it, so I took it in the house to take a look. African-American* cartoonist Walt Carr's self-published Just Us! is full of fantastic cartoons. Carr is from the Baltimore area, and is living (I hope) in Columbia, MD. A gag cartoonist turned political cartoonist in his old age (literally, he was born in 1932), these are hard-hitting cartoons of the type you'd expect in a Keith Knight publication. I'm very grateful to whomever put it in my LFL as I didn't pay much attention to the Washington Post article (citation below) on him that came out during the pandemic. I don't know how you can buy his book now - the Amazon link on his website says they don't have it in stock. The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum is the only library in WorldCat that claims to have a copy.

Here's some cartoons that struck me as I'm reading the book. Sadly, they're still relevant.

Here's a list of material that I found on him that I will be adding into the Comics Research Bibliography. I've sent an email asking for an interview - as you can see below, he was still active last year. 

Walt Carr’s website CARRtoons plus - http://carrtoonsplus.com/index.html

Just us!
Walt Carr
 [Uptown Press], [Baltimore, Maryland], 2019

Carr releases collection of his legendary cartoons
by Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire
    New Pittsburgh Courier September 30, 2019
https://newpittsburghcourier.com/2019/09/30/carr-releases-collection-of-his-legendary-cartoons/

Walt Carr Cartoons for “Just Us”
D. D. Degg   
https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2019/09/27/walt-carr-cartoons-for-just-us/

Aunt Jemima cartoon causing ruckus in Ohio [Walt Carr]
Alan Gardner   
https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2009/12/03/aunt-jemima-cartoon-causing-ruckus-in-ohio/

Political cartoonist Walt Carr
Doug Kapustin (photos)
Baltimore Sun October 15, 2019
https://www.baltimoresun.com/2019/10/15/political-cartoonist-walt-carr/

Columbia political cartoonist’s book ‘JUST US!’ showcases a black perspective on current events
By Jess Nocera

October 16, 2019
https://www.baltimoresun.com/2019/10/16/columbia-political-cartoonists-book-just-us-showcases-a-black-perspective-on-current-events/

‘Just Us!’ Should Have Everyone ‘Laughin,’ ‘Signifyin’
  by Stacy M. Brown
Washington Informer July 25, 2019
https://www.washingtoninformer.com/just-us-should-have-everyone-laughin-signifyin/

Howard resident, author Pamela Woolford tells the untold stories of black Columbia [Walt Carr]
By Capital Gazette February 19, 2020
https://www.capitalgazette.com/2020/02/19/howard-resident-author-pamela-woolford-tells-the-untold-stories-of-black-columbia/

Walt Carr Follow-Up
By Sean Kleefeld
Kleefeld on Comics February 11, 2021
http://www.kleefeldoncomics.com/2021/02/walt-carr-follow-up.html

A Black political cartoonist’s new book pokes and provokes. He’s planning another [in print as A veteran Black cartoonist takes setback in stride].
Courtland Milloy
Washington Post September 30, 2020, p. B1, 3
online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/black-political-cartoonist/2020/09/29/43fc8dc8-0270-11eb-897d-3a6201d6643f_story.html

Columbia cartoonist among first to highlight struggles of Black Americans [Walt Carr; online as Cartoonist highlights struggles of Black Americans in mainstream publications]
WBAL Feb 16, 2021
Lisa Robinson
https://www.wbaltv.com/article/cartoonist-walt-carr-highlights-struggles-of-black-americans/35521322 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMwcPM2ntSw

Avery, Jaha N. 2023. Those Who Saw the Sun: African American Oral Histories from the Jim Crow South [Walt Carr oral history]. United States: Levine Querido.

A Talk With Cartoonists Ray Billingsley, Walt Carr and Angelo Lopez
Angelo Lopez
 Apr 2, 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=J2w9ZbErZ88

*"Black" really isn't helpful when it comes to search engines finding an article, hence I'm using the older term.