The Utah Statesman: Renowned Cartoonist Pat Bagley visits USU
(photo from the USU Statesman Online)
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Renowned Cartoonist Pat Bagley visits USU
By Morgan Pratt in The Utah Statesman Thursday, February 11, 2016
Renowned cartoonist Pat Bagley accepted Utah State University’s Ted Pease Award in the Merrill-Cazier Library on Tuesday [Feb.9], as well as being interviewed as a presenter for the Morris Media and Society Lecture series.
Bagley is a political cartoonist for The Salt Lake Tribune and is known for his controversial political cartoons. Also, he is the longest-serving political cartoonist in the nation. Bagley has received several other honors including the Society of Professional Journalist’s best editorial cartoonist in Utah and he was a finalist in the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in the Editorial Cartooning category. He has also written and illustrated numerous books.
Bagley’s illustrations often reflect his liberal views of the world. He said he is not nearly as critical of President Barack Obama as he was of George W. Bush. He said his passion for truth often fuels his illustrations.
“Outrage helps,” he said. “You have to care.”
Bagley said the political paradigm is shifting and the national rhetoric is changing. People are making decisions that could result in long-term global effects.
“Lately politics have become a national sport,” Bagley said.
One of the themes he often touches on in his illustrations is being openly critical about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, referring to the church as the 800-pound gorilla in the room.
“I’m not that critical of the church,” he said. “If I wasn’t doing cartoons about the church, I wouldn’t be doing my job.”
Since Bagley’s time as a political cartoonist for The Salt Lake Tribune, his group of co-cartoonists has shrunk significantly. Nearly 40 years ago, there were almost 300 political cartoonists; that number has since shrunk to 50. Bagley said he isn’t too concerned about that number getting smaller because a lot of those cartoonists have taken their satire and criticism to the Internet.
“The opportunity is more open now than it has ever been,” he said. “Things can go viral so easily.”
On top of the shifting political cartoon medium, Bagley said the role of cartoonists has changed also.
“Early on, we were comics and we were entertainers,” he said. “With politics going the way it has, it is more important to have a message in our illustrations.”
The Ted Pease Award was first created in the Journalism and Communications Department to honor those who speak truth without regard of how they will personally be perceived, said journalism assistant-professor Matthew LaPlante.
Since its conception, the award has been dubbed the “Rusty Spike” award, the “Pease Award for Curmudgeonly Service to Journalism” award and the “Nobel Pease” prize.
“The award has more nicknames than it does recipients,” LaPlante said.
The actual award is a rusty railroad spike. It is an allusion to Promontory Point’s historic golden spike that was pounded into the ground during the opening ceremony of the Trans-Pacific Railroad. Since that time, the golden spike has been pulled from the ground and replaced with a common rail road spike.
“Those ordinary spikes are what hold our nation, our community and our world together,” LaPlante said.
Natalie Deaver, a sophomore in journalism and communications, said she appreciated Bagley’s unique perspective. His attitude taught her not to be afraid of what other people might think when it comes to being a reporter.
“He’s writing in a predominantly LDS community and he’s writing things that could offend people,” she said. “He isn’t there to please his audience, but speak the truth.”
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