'Tallahassee Democrat' Hires Doug Marlette

By: Dave Astor Updated at 3:40 p.m.

The Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat named Doug Marlette its staff editorial cartoonist. He is a 1988 Pulitzer Prize winner who formerly worked for Newsday of Melville, N.Y., The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer.

Democrat Publisher Mike Pate said that, to his knowledge, Marlette is the first staff editorial cartoonist in the Knight Ridder paper's history. The hiring swims against the trend that has seen fewer U.S. dailies employ a full-time cartoonist as they seek to save money and/or avoid controversy.

When asked why the Democrat decided to hire a cartoonist in general and Marlette in particular, Pate referred E&P Online to a press release. In it, Pate stated: "Having a journalist of Doug's caliber will add firepower to the paper that serves the capital of the fourth-largest state in the country."

Marlette praised the Democrat for hiring him at a time when a number of newspapers are getting rid of editorial cartoonists. "I'm delighted and grateful," he said. "There are half the number of cartoonists now than 20 years ago."

The North Carolina-based Marlette, like a handful of other U.S. editorial cartoonists, will work off-site for his paper -- though he'll travel to Tallahassee from time to time.

Marlette, who started at the Democrat on July 8, said Florida is a great place to be a cartoonist. "Florida is the new California -- a petri dish for the nation. It's on the cutting edge of the nation's key issues," he said, citing the controversial 2000 presidential election, Jeb Bush, Janet Reno, the Hispanic population, Disney, and more.

"This is like a homecoming in a way," he added, noting that he attended Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Marlette's editorial cartoons are syndicated by Tribune Media Services, which also distributes his "Kudzu" comic strip. In addition, Marlette is the author of an award-winning novel called The Bridge. This spring, Paramount Pictures acquired the rights to possibly turn that book into a movie starring Tom Cruise.