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Durango Herald Joins Pulitzer Cartoon Protest

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D. D. Degg July 13, 2022 1 minute 0 comments

By Jan. 25 of every year, about 1,100 journalism entries are submitted to the Pulitzer Prize board. The competition is beyond fierce. So we were disappointed in January when the Pulitzer team quietly replaced the Editorial Cartooning category, which dated back to 1922, with Illustrated Reporting and Commentary. This left cartoonists throwing up their hands (and their pens).

We’re biased, but we see our in-house cartoonist Wes Rowell as worthy of being in this company.

The lane was already narrow for editorial illustrators. Now, editorial cartoonists are getting stiffed. This is too bad. We appreciate the many dimensions – and impacts – of cartoons. Take Wes’ cartoons, which tend to be quirky, irreverent or funny. Or celebratory or sad or just reflective of what it’s like to live here, now.

“I try to keep my work localized,” he said.

The Durango Herald editorial.

Meanwhile, Wes is illustrating projects that fall into other Pulitzer categories. It’s the next natural step in his work. We hope to one day be that newsroom, spraying champagne in honor of Wes winning a Pulitzer.

Wes Rowell‘s homepage.