AAEC Convention Report: The Crowd Is Thinning
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From the National Journal comes a report on the AAEC convention this year. The story centers on the dwindling number of staff positions (a reoccurring theme), perspectives on animated editorial cartoons, and the demographics of the association.
The AAEC will celebrate 50 years of existence at its annual meeting at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington from July 4 to 7. Amid the shifting landscape, some leading cartoonists lament the graying of their ranks. Fewer young cartoonists show up at the convention now, said Newsday’s Walt Handelsman, who 20 years ago encouraged promising newcomers to redouble their efforts and aim for staff cartoonist positions on newspapers. “Now when I talk to kids, I’m much more negative,” Handelsman said. “I would highly recommend [they] try to do something on the Web.”
The Internet supplies a wide-open canvas, but it offers little in the way of remuneration for most independent sketchers. Veteran print cartoonists cling to their staff jobs for good reason. Most earn a reasonable middle-class living on salaries ranging from $50,000 to $75,000 per year. Many have syndication deals that may generate an additional $20,000 a year, but that money is famously unpredictable. “I try not to think of it as real income since tomorrow it could be gone,” said Washington Post cartoonist Tom Toles.
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