"This is the best job in the world," says Terry Mosher, an editorial cartoonist.
"It's a wonderful job. We're paid money to poke fun at the system."
But anyone hoping to become an editorial cartoonist had better be prepared
for a lot of job hunting and a lot of rejections. Mosher figures there are
more heart surgeons than political cartoonists.
"Thirty years ago -- when I was starting out -- it was easier," he says.
"There were a lot more publications." Mosher worked hard to get his position
at a daily, producing an incredible 26 books of his work.
He's syndicated, which means his cartoons are offered to other newspapers
and magazines for a small fee. If one of Mosher's cartoons is very successful,
it might be seen in newspapers all across America.
Mosher has been published in the New York Times, National Lampoon, Harper's,
Atlantic Monthly, Punch and Time as a freelancer.
He has won a large number of awards for his work -- national newspaper
awards, the Quill Awards and five prizes from the International Salon of Caricature.
While Mosher doesn't believe that newspapers are going to disappear, he
does believe newspapers are going to have to get smarter and concentrate on
what they do better than television. He also sees a great opportunity for
young cartoonists opening up on the Internet.
Mosher reads seven newspapers a day and watches the TV news. He eavesdrops
on conversations, keeping abreast of what issues are hot. He begins each day
with four or five concepts. He keeps a list of possible topics on his computer,
updating the list constantly.
By noon, Mosher has his idea and begins to create what will be the next
day's cartoon. His intricate drawing style means it takes hours to produce
just one cartoon.
Rob Rogers agrees that landing a job as a cartoonist can be tough. "If
a cartoonist gets a job with a newspaper, it's a job for life. There's not
a high turnover. There are so few jobs that people really hang on to them.
"You have to be there at the right time, when a cartoonist is dying or
retiring -- and they usually die first," says Rogers. He is one of two editorial
cartoonists at his newspaper.
"I've always done cartoons, since I was a kid. I used to copy cartoons
from the comics, stuff like Peanuts. I used to do a lot of drawing when I
was in high school. I used to draw cartoons instead of doing my schoolwork!
"In college, a friend said I should take my cartoons to the campus newspaper.
They asked me to do some stuff that had to do with campus issues, and after
some were printed we got letters from people on both sides of the issue. That
was the hook," says Rogers. "I was addicted."
After receiving a master's degree in fine arts, Rogers landed a job with
a newspaper in 1984. He worked for that newspaper for eight years, then moved
to another one.
These days, he draws four cartoons a week, switching days back and forth
with the other staff artist, both being published on Sunday.
Rogers also has experience writing and drawing a local comic strip. He's
a member of the United Media syndicate, which resells his cartoons to other
newspapers across the country.
Rogers offers this advice to young up-and-coming cartoonists: "Get a well-rounded
liberal arts education -- any education -- instead of just concentrating on
cartooning. While you're waiting for a cartooning job to come along, you have
to be able to do something else to make a living.
"You have to know what's going on. Keep yourself well informed and know
how to process the information. And have confidence in yourself. That really
improves your work."
Rogers believes would-be cartoonists should do whatever they can to get
published. Aspiring cartoonists have to get their work seen, and they have
to fill up their scrapbook. Editors aren't going to ask to see a diploma from
an art school. They want to see a portfolio.
"Having some good ideas and drawings isn't enough," says Rogers. "Editors
want to see work that's been produced. Do it for free. Start that process
in high school and you've got an advantage over cartoonists who start later."
Cartoonist Sue Dewar thinks that newspapers are changing, and not necessarily
for the better. "Frills are being cut and, unfortunately, cartoonists are
seen as a frill," she says.
"Cartoonists are losing their jobs. A lot of papers are figuring, 'Why
do we need one on staff? Syndicated cartoonists can be picked up for peanuts.'"
After working in commercial art and cartooning, Dewar started her own company
and began freelancing. In 1984, she landed a job with a daily as a full-time
editorial cartoonist, winning the 1987 National Business Writing Award for
political cartooning.
Dewar's start as a political cartoonist came when she met Andy Donato --
at that time a national newspaper cartoonist -- over dinner. Donato bet her
she couldn't come up with three ideas for cartoons before he finished his
glass of wine.
"I beat him," says Dewar, "and I got in on the Monday slot [of the newspaper]!"