Michael Cavna interviewed San Diego Union-Tribune editorial cartoonist Steve Breen about his “Living in the Shadows” project.
MICHAEL CAVNA: Did you do the reporting for your cartoon, Steve, or was that gathered by other journalists as part of the Union-Tribune’s larger immigration coverage?
STEVE BREEN: This cartoon took months of work here and there, but I feel strongly about the topic so I didn’t mind the sweat. Everything fell in place in the end.
Like most journalism projects these days, it was basically a one-man show. I conceived, wrote and drew it on my own. Our fantastic web guy Andrew Kleske did the programming for the mouse-rollover effect. I also asked two local migrant-rights groups to hand out the questionnaires, which I wrote. I figured people could be afraid that I would expose” them if I asked the questions myself. I also feared I would not get honest responses. But I didn’t change any of the information I collected.
I hope he wins another Pulitzer Prize. I don’t know the work of many editorial cartoonists but I do know that he is one of the best out there. I met him at the “Festival of Cartoon Art” and his lecture was great. His cartoons on the oil spill were unbelievable.
This is a great project.