Rob Rogers

Blog

  1. Rex Babin Award

    October 5, 2020

    SOURCE: AAEC

    The Rex Babin Memorial Award Excellence in Local Cartooning — This year’s Babin Award goes to Rob Rogers for his Pittsburgh-centric weekly strip “Brewed on Grant.” Kentucky cartoonist Marc Murphy was named the finalist. Presented by Jack Ohman, JD Crowe, Kevin Kallaugher, the three judges had this to say about the winners:

    “For decades, Rob Rogers has been a national leader in our profession, deftly satirizing not just national politicians, but also keeping a close watch on Pittsburgh politics and culture. He has been our AAEC president, and he is beloved for his manner and humor. He’s a courageous fighter for our profession, and at a critical moment stood up for his work and right to comment independently. His portfolio is a multi-panel strip called “Brewed on Grant,” and was a staple item in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, and he continues to do it to this day (in the alt-weekly Current). Rob is a talented artist and concise writer, making multiple sly references throughout his cartoons he submitted to the judges.”

  2. Bring Back Brewed On Grant!

    July 31, 2019

    UPDATE: THE PITTSBURGH CURRENT ENDED PUBLICATION IN 2021. I AM NO LONGER DRAWING BREWED ON GRANT, BUT BRINGING IT BACK ALLOWED ME TO WIN THE 2020 REX BABIN AWARD.

    The Pittsburgh Current has launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring back my local comic strip Brewed On Grant! I am very excited to be bringing this comic strip back. This crowd-funding campaign will fund the strip for a year, as well help pay the other cartoonists that already appear in the Current. Please join us in this effort!

    Rob Rogers Brings ‘Brewed On Grant’ Exclusively To Pittsburgh Current

    By Pittsburgh Current Staff
    info@pittsburghcurrent.com

    Since he was fired last year by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, editorial cartoonist Rob Rogers has consistently heard one question.

    “When are you bringing back Brewed on Grant?”

    Now, thanks to a new partnership between Rogers and the Pittsburgh Current, that question has a definitive answer — August 6.

    The partnership comes at a time when media companies are eliminating editorial cartoons and follows a years-long trend of newspapers seriously cutting back on or eliminating comics in general.

    October 2020 update: Thanks to all who supported this Kickstarter! It helped fund almost a year of Brewed On Grant comics. The strip has temporarily been suspended due to lack of funding.

  3. 2019 Awards!

    June 1, 2019

    People say it isn’t about the awards, but after being fired by my newspaper in 2018, getting a pat on the back for those same cartoons doesn’t hurt. I am honored.

    My 2019 awards include:

    Emerson Collective 2019 Fellowship

    The National Headliners Award: Judges’ comments: ​This collection of cartoons gets high marks for originality, diversity of topics, quality of artwork and clarity of message. An outstanding entry all around.

    SDX Award

    Pulitzer Finalist

    Golden Quill

  4. Enemy of the People: A Cartoonist’s Journey

    November 13, 2018

    CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR SIGNED COPY!

    Copies are now available HERE or at Penguin Random House, Amazon and at bookstores everywhere.

    SAN DIEGO, CA (November 8th, 2018) – IDW Publishing is proud to announce Enemy of the People: A Cartoonist’s Journey by Rob Rogers. The title will be released through the IDW: PDX imprint which also prints Full Bleed.

    After 25 years as the award-winning editorial cartoonist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Rogers was fired for drawing cartoons critical of the President. The story of Rogers’ public termination, picked up by the press and shared on social media, captured the public’s imagination. This book chronicles his final weeks at the paper, including an unprecedented six cartoons in a row that were spiked by his publisher.

    Rogers’ work has been featured in The New York TimesThe Washington PostUSA Today, Newsweek and The Week, among many others. His awards include the 1995 National Headliner Award, the 2000 and 2013 Thomas Nast Award from the Overseas Press Club and the 2015 Berryman Award from the National PressFoundation. In 1999 he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Sometimes controversial yet always thought-provoking, Rogers’ work speaks Truth to Power and challenges conceptions and biases concerning society’s most polarizing issues… as every great political cartoonist must.

    “Satire is the ultimate expression of free speech,” says Rogers. “It reminds us that we live in a healthy democracy. But we are living in a time like no other in our country’s history, a time when the media is under attack, a time of extreme partisanship. We need satire and editorial cartoons more now than ever.”

    This 184-page collection features highlights of Rogers’ political cartoons over the last three years, his coverage of past presidents, a tutorial on creating editorial cartoons and two long-form comics. The book also includes brief essays contributed by notable cartoonists and journalists championing the First Amendment and lauding the craft of editorial cartooning. Along with Rogers, several fellow cartoonists, including Pulitzer Prize winners Joel Pett and Ann Telnaes, have provided quotes and context. Jake Tapper, anchor of “The Lead” and “State of the Union” on CNN, as well as a political cartoonist in his own right, provided the Foreword.

    Enemy of the People is in bookstores now or you can get your signed copy HERE.

  5. My Firing: The Press Coverage

    September 1, 2018

    These are the stories that followed the 18 killed cartoons and my firing from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in June of 2018.

    WESA 6/2/18

    http://wesa.fm/post/pittsburgh-post-gazette-editorial-page-not-publishing-longtime-cartoonists-recent-work#stream/0

    KDKA 6/4/18

    https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/06/04/post-gazette-rob-rogers-cartoons-not-published/

    Philly.com 6/4/18

    http://www.philly.com/philly/news/donald-trump-political-cartoons-pittsburgh-post-gazette-rob-rogers-20180604.html

    CNN.com 6/4/18

    http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/04/media/rob-rogers-pittsburgh-post-gazette-cartoonist/index.html

    The Incline 6/5/18

    https://theincline.com/2018/06/05/after-6-killed-cartoons-rob-rogers-reappears-on-the-post-gazettes-editorial-page/

    WESA 6/6/18

    http://wesa.fm/post/post-gazette-cartoon-dispute-draws-more-attention-change-editorial-leadership#stream/0

    Jake Tapper 6/6/18

    https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2018/06/06/lead-cartoonist-rob-rodgers-live-jake-tapper.cnn

    FAIR 6/6/18

    https://fair.org/home/anti-trump-cartoons-stopped-by-censor-at-pittsburgh-post-gazette/

    Peduto Tweet 6/6/18

    https://twitter.com/billpeduto/status/1004533424231796736

    City Paper 6/7/18

    https://www.pghcitypaper.com/Blogh/archives/2018/06/07/pittsburgh-post-gazette-cartoonist-rob-rogers-critical-of-papers-decision-to-pull-anti-trump-cartoons

    KDKA 6/7/18

    http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/06/07/rob-rogers-post-gazette-no-editorial-cartoons/

    Washington Post 6/8/18

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/06/08/pittsburgh-post-gazette-cartoonist-is-seeing-many-anti-trump-cartoons-spiked/?utm_term=.b8928de275c9

    Philly.com 6/8/18

    http://www.philly.com/archive/rob_tornoe/donald-trump-political-cartoons-pittsburgh-post-gazette-rob-rogers-keith-burris-20180608.html

    CJR 6/11/18

    https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/post-gazette-rob-rogers-cartoons.php

    The Incline 6/14/18

    https://theincline.com/2018/06/14/pittsburgh-post-gazette-cartoonist-rob-rogers-says-he-was-fired/

    Trib Live

    https://triblive.com/local/allegheny/13761182-74/after-spiking-anti-trump-cartoons-post-gazette-fires-cartoonist-rob-rogers

    CNN/Erin Burnett 6/14/18

    https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/06/14/rob-rogers-cartoonist-fired-pittsburgh-post-gazette-erin-intv.cnn

    New York Times 6/15/18

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/opinion/cartoonist-rob-rogers-trump-fired.html

    Washington Post /Ann Telnaes

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/06/15/an-american-editorial-cartoonist-has-been-fired-for-skewering-trump-he-likely-wont-be-the-last/?utm_term=.30913644f23f

    Daily Beast 6/20/18

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/rob-rogers-fired-for-his-angry-trump-cartoons-fires-back

    Politico 6/16/18

    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/16/pittsburgh-cartoonist-firing-publisher-gazette-650389

    Yale News 6/20/18

    https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2018/06/20/block-77-takes-heat-for-firing-anti-trump-cartoonist/

    Washington Post 6/29/18

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/06/29/pittsburgh-post-gazettes-spiked-anti-trump-cartoons-will-get-a-d-c-museum-exhibit/?utm_term=.ef5d8020f781

    Washington Post 7/3/18

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/07/03/donald-trump-cost-me-my-job-former-post-gazette-cartoonist-explains-why-he-thinks-he-was-fired-in-new-comic/?utm_term=.3f086d506ce6

    1A (WAMU) 7/18/18 

    https://the1a.org/shows/2018-07-18/editorial-cartoons

    Washington Post 7/20/18

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/07/20/this-exhibition-should-have-never-happened-the-anti-trump-cartoons-that-got-an-artist-fired-go-on-display/?utm_term=.848914890259

  6. Support Rob on Patreon

    June 19, 2018

    I am humbled by the overwhelming support I have received over the past couple of weeks. Thank you all so much. Many of you have encouraged me to start a Patreon site as a way to keep the cartoons coming. I decided to give it a try. Here it is: https://www.patreon.com/robrogers

News

The 2021 Herblock Prize!

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Rex Babin Award

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Bring Back Brewed On Grant!

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2019 Awards!

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