Matt Wuerker () is a
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
-winning American
political cartoonist
An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or curren ...
and founding staff member of ''
Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
''.
Career
Wuerker graduated from
Lewis & Clark College
Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & Cl ...
with a BA in 1979. While there, he served as the chief editorial cartoonist for ''The Pioneer Log'', the weekly student newspaper.
He has published two collections of cartoons, ''Standing Tall in Deep Doo Doo, A Cartoon Chronicle of the Bush Quayle Years'' (
Thunder's Mouth Press
Perseus Books Group was an American publishing company founded in 1996 by investor Frank Pearl. Perseus acquired the trade publishing division of Addison-Wesley (including the Merloyd Lawrence imprint) in 1997. It was named Publisher of the Ye ...
, 1991) and ''Meanwhile in Other News... A Graphic Look at Politics in the Empire of Money, Sex and Scandal'' (
Common Courage Press
Common Courage Press is a book publishing company based in Monroe, Maine.
The company was formed in January 1990, in part by Greg Bates, who also serves as publisher. Bates explained his goal of the company: "by publishing books for social just ...
, 1998). He illustrated the book ''
The Madness of King George
''The Madness of King George'' is a 1994 British biographical historical comedy-drama film directed by Nicholas Hytner and adapted by Alan Bennett from his own 1991 play ''The Madness of George III''. It tells the true story of George III of Gre ...
'' (Common Courage Press, 2003) by Michael K. Smith.
In August 2017, a cartoon that he drew in response to
Hurricane Harvey
Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest t ...
was criticized for being insensitive to victims of the hurricane. The cartoon depicted a man in a
Confederate-flag shirt being winched from a house with a "
Secede
Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a polity, political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former republics of ...
" sign, as one of the rescuers points out that they had been sent by the government. A
tweet from ''Politico'' containing the cartoon was later deleted.
Awards
Wuerker was the winner of the 2012
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning
The Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary is one of the fourteen Pulitzer Prizes that is annually awarded for journalism in the United States. It is the successor to the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning awarded from 1922 t ...
. He was a finalist for the award in 2009 and 2010. He was awarded the 2010
Herblock Prize
The Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning is an annual $15,000 after-tax cash prize, and a sterling silver Tiffany trophy. (presented at the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
) and the 2010
Berryman Award
The National Press Foundation is a nonprofit journalism training organization. It educates journalists on complex issues and trains them in reporting tools and techniques. It recognizes and encourages excellence in journalism through its awards.
...
by the
National Press Foundation
The National Press Foundation is a nonprofit journalism training organization. It educates journalists on complex issues and trains them in reporting tools and techniques. It recognizes and encourages excellence in journalism through its awards.
...
.
POLITICO's Matt Wuerker wins Pulitzer Prize - Mackenzie Weinger - POLITICO.com
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References
External links
Work at ''Politico''
Pulitzer Prize citation
*
American editorial cartoonists
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning winners
Lewis & Clark College alumni
Living people
Politico people
Year of birth missing (living people)
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