Rob Rogers Discusses Being an AAEC President and Cartooning About a U.S. President

By: Dave Astor During the next few months, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial cartoonist Rob Rogers hopes to finish a book of his work and possibly start a blog. There was little time for either endeavor over the past year, because Rogers was busy serving as president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.

"It was one of the most stressful -- but enjoyable -- tasks I've ever taken on," said Rogers, whose 12-month tenure at the AAEC helm will end Sept. 21.

While doing his usual six cartoons a week for the Post-Gazette, Rogers spent countless hours putting together the AAEC's massive 50th-anniversary convention that took place last month in Washington, D.C.

"I hosted the AAEC's Pittsburgh convention in 2003, but there was five times as much work for this one," said Rogers. "There were so many details."

Rogers did emphasize that he had lots of help from other AAECers as well as the organization's management company. And the United Media-syndicated cartoonist said he was lucky not to have been distracted by something like the Muhammad cartoon controversy, which the AAEC's 2005-6 board was busy reacting to during the months before last year's convention in Denver.

The Post-Gazette staffer said he was very pleased with the way the Washington convention turned out. The event drew about 250 attendees, who heard three founding AAEC members speak at the start and end of the July 4-7 meeting.

"We need to reach back and start taking advantage of retired members," said Rogers. "The industry is changing so much that it would be a benefit to have insight from cartoonists who have seen the industry change before."

Convention attendees also heard speakers such as various current editorial cartoonists, King Features Syndicate columnist Helen Thomas, Creators Syndicate columnist Mark Shields, Washington Post investigative reporter Dana Priest, and -- during the final banquet -- presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich.

While the AAEC would have preferred a more prominent White House hopeful to speak, Kucinich devoted more effort to his convention visit than most other politicians who addressed the organization in the past. Rogers said the congressman attended the pre- and post-banquet receptions and gave a non-boilerplate speech with many references to editorial cartooning.

(For full coverage of the convention, see the 15 stories posted on E&P's Web site from July 4-8.)

Rogers was also happy with the AAEC cartoon exhibit he curated, and which appeared at American University in Washington during the convention. Some conservative AAECers thought the "Bush Leaguers: Cartoonists Take on the White House" show was too critical of the current administration, but Rogers noted that a 1990s cartoon exhibit about the Clinton White House would have been quite critical of that administration, too.

Also, Rogers said two July 3 pre-convention events -- "Eyes on the Herblock Prize" and "Cartoonapalooza" -- drew many members of the public.

About 200 high school students attended the Herblock session (named after the legendary Washington Post cartoonist who died in 2001). Rogers noted that with the editorial cartooning field losing staff jobs, it's especially important to attract young readers who'll want to see cartoons in their newspapers when they become adults.

During the convention itself, there were two "Town Hall Meetings" to discuss ways to improve the state of the profession. "I was worried it might be a whine session, but it didn't end up like that," said Rogers. "It was very constructive." He added that the AAEC is working to implement some of the suggestions.

Meanwhile, the AAEC has changed its membership requirements somewhat to reflect the smaller number of full-time newspaper staff cartoonists. Now potentially eligible to join are people such as online-only cartoonists, freelance cartoonists, alternative cartoonists, and newspaper graphics people who also do cartoons. Rogers did note that all this makes "the vetting process more complicated" as the organization determines whether someone does enough editorial cartooning to be a member.

Rogers, 48, entered the profession when newspaper staff jobs were more plentiful. He joined The Pittsburgh Press in 1984 -- and the road to that hiring was an interesting one. The Philadelphia native did cartoons for the student paper at what's now the University of Central Oklahoma, but then stopped drawing cartoons for a time while earning a master's in fine arts at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh.

Thinking he would try cartooning as a career, Rogers decided to resume drawing cartoons before his CMU graduation. There were no openings for that at the CMU paper, so he arranged to do freelance cartoons for the student paper at the University of Pittsburgh -- despite not attending that institution. His work there caught the eye of the Press' graphics editor.

Meanwhile, Rogers had been sending cartoon-job inquiries to about 100 dailies around the country. He didn't mail one to the Press, thinking he would try to visit the paper in person. But an editor at one of the papers receiving a Rogers job inquiry knew the Press' top editor, and forwarded the mailing to him. So the Press editor and the Press graphics editor independently and almost simultaneously wanted to hire Rogers as Press editorial cartoonist -- and the position became his after a summer internship.

"The Press hadn't had a full-time cartoonist for 25 years, and I was 25," recalled Rogers, adding jokingly: "It was almost like they waited for me!"

Rogers attended his first AAEC convention in 1986, signed with United in 1988 (he was previously self-syndicated), and joined the Post-Gazette when it merged with the Press in 1993.

Until the latter part of the '90s, Rogers often took more of a topically humorous than hard-hitting approach to his work. He began to rethink that late in the Clinton administration -- partly because he was often reprinted in Newsweek magazine, which has a reputation for preferring softer cartoons.

Rogers also began appreciating more and more how "precious the rectangular cartoon space on the editorial page is. Few people get to air their opinions like editorial cartoonists do."

The policies of the Bush administration moved Rogers to complete his transformation into a more pointed cartoonist. "Just the hubris he showed from day one, even though he didn't win the popular vote," said Rogers. "His talk about going to war with Iraq soon after 9/11. It really lit a fire under me. I felt a lot of outrage and I still do."

Rogers does a number of speaking appearances, and the Bush cartoons he shows picture a president with bigger and bigger ears as the years go on -- sort of like Pinocchio's nose growing when he lied.

But Rogers still uses humor in many of his hard-hitting cartoons, and tries not to take a pointed approach all the time. "If you hammer people every day, people are going to think you have a very limited palette as a human being," he said. "I'm in favor of mixing it up."

Four of the six cartoons Rogers does each week are on national or international issues. The other two are local, with one in the form of an editorial cartoon and the other an installment of his topical "Brewed on Grant" comic.

Rogers' work has brought him a number of honors -- including 12 Golden Quill Awards, the 1995 National Headline Award, and the 2000 Thomas Nast Award. He was also a finalist for a 1999 Pulitzer Prize.

That last honor was won in 2005 by Nick Anderson, the Houston Chronicle/Washington Post Writers Group creator and AAEC president-elect who'll succeed Rogers next month.

"Nick will be a great president," said Rogers. "He's been involved with the AAEC board for several years, and is a strong advocate for the organization and our profession."

After Anderson takes over, Rogers will have more time for that aforementioned blog and book. Rogers' work has been part of other books, but he's never had a solo one.

The Post-Gazette staffer is still thinking about the best format for his blog, because he wants to make sure the blog will be something "I would want to come back to every day."

He added: "Like all journalists, editorial cartoonists are being asked to do more these days. Something like a blog can bring in new kinds of creativity and information -- and might actually spark better ideas. But, at the same time, you can only do so much and still have a life. If you're juggling a bowling ball, a chainsaw, and a flaming baton, and then you add a puppy, someone's going to get hurt!"

Speaking of hard work, why was all the effort putting together the AAEC's 50th-anniversary convention partly enjoyable? "Because," Rogers replied, "I love the organization and the profession."