The Charlotte Observer, by Kevin Siers
Lee C. Bollinger, President of Columbia University (left), presents the 2014 Editorial Cartooning Prize to Kevin Siers of The Charlotte Observer.
Winning Work
To the Pulitzer Prize judges:
Spiteful legislators, pass-the-buck governors, egomaniacal airport directors: In the Carolinas, they wake up every morning and tum to The Charlotte Observer's editorial page with a touch of dread, peeking to see who Observer cartoonist Kevin Siers has jabbed that day. From the county commissioners chairman to President Obama, no one can avoid Siers' watchful eye and sharp wit. That's why it is with great pride that we submit for your consideration Siers' work for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning.
Siers, who ably replaced Pulitzer Prize winner Doug Mariette at the Observer, combines artistic talent with critical thinking and a sharp wit. That combination forces readers - and particularly leaders statewide - to pick up the Observer or go to our website every day to see who Siers has exposed.
His eye is trained on no single party or ideology. Siers is wonderfully nonpartisan in his distaste for deceit, cravenness, greed and hypocrisy among public officials. He has range: He can be playful or reverent. And he is as comfortable pointing out the absurdities of Charlotte's and North Carolina's public life as he is calling out those on the national and international stage.
Be it Obamacare, the NSA's snooping, the fight over gun control or Congress' paralysis, Siers sees through the rhetoric and delivers an important message - while giving readers a laugh. He is a voracious reader and a student of public policy, and that's evident in his work.
His "You Write the Caption" contest at www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion is among our most popular online features, getting hundreds of entries and many thousands of page views each week.
With his artistic talent, critical thinking and insatiable appetite for news, Siers is producing some of the nation's best editorial cartooning. We invite you to take a close look, and believe you'll find his 2013 portfolio worthy of the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning.
Sincerely,
Taylor Batten
Editorial Page Editor
Winning Work
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, January 4, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, January 25, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, February 5, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, February 14, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, April 19, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, May 1, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, May 10, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, May 17, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, July 31, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, August 9, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, August 28, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, September 8, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, October 16, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, October 17, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, October 31, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, November 19, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, November 22, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, December 11, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, December 15, 2013)
(Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer, December 19, 2013)
Biography
Kevin Siers creates five editorial cartoons a week for The Charlotte Observer. A native of Minnesota, he's been drawing editorial cartoons for the Observer since 1987. He began his cartooning career by drawing editorial cartoons for his hometown community newspaper between shifts working in the local iron ore mines. While at the University of Minnesota, he joined the staff of the Minnesota Daily as editorial cartoonist where his work won top national awards (The John Locher Award and the Sigma Delta Chi / Society of Professional Journalists Award). His cartoons are distributed nationwide by King Features Syndicate. They have also been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek and USA Today. He and his wife reside in Charlotte, NC.