Providing a peek inside the world of Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonists, CounterPoint’s mission is to create a sustainable business model that enables some of the nation’s sharpest political cartoonists of all perspectives to foster a balanced, uncensored debate with enough humor to make these critical topics approachable for the dinner table, and to invite healthy discussions among friends.
Chattanooga Times Free Press cartoonist Clay Bennett has earned just about every honor his profession has to offer. A nominated finalist for The Pulitzer Prize seven times since 1999, he won the award in 2002.
Growing up in Southern California, Lisa was always attracted to the arts and enjoyed reading and drawing comics. It was in high school, during the Watergate hearings, that she discovered editorial cartoons and was hooked from then on. After her youngest child started school, she began putting that talent to work and building a freelance business producing illustrations and graphic design projects. In 1992, the Victor Valley Daily press hired Lisa to create local editorial cartoons on a weekly basis. That relationship lasted over 25 years. In 2006, her work came to the attention of the Washington Post Writers Group and they began syndicating her national cartoons. Some of Benson's awards include first place honors Best of the West awards (2010) and first place California Newspaper Publishers Association (2000).
Tim was raised in Indianapolis with Hoosier values, a sense of humor and a pat on the head for coloring inside the lines. After graduating from Columbus College of Art and Design to pursue an illustration career, Tim discovered an opportunity to be an editorial cartoonist in 2006 and has never looked back.
Danziger was born in the Bronx, attended the University of Vermont and the University of Denver. He served as an intelligence officer in Vietnam and was awarded a Bronze Star and an Air Medal. His work has appeared in newspapers around the world, from the Los Angeles Times to the London Times to the Moscow Times, and was on the Washington Post editorial page September 12 2001. He has published several novels, a children’s book and his Vietnam memoir, “Lieutenant Dangerous.”
Pedro X. Molina is an internationally acclaimed political cartoonist who fled his native Nicaragua during a crackdown on journalists and government critics. He is currently an Artist Protection Fund Fellow in residence with Cornell University. Molina contributes six cartoons and one strip per week for Confidencial, which continues to publish online, and is a regular contributor to Counterpoint.com. He has also been published in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Courrier International (France), and many other publications.
Eric Allie has been causing trouble with his drawings since third grade. He has been doing it professionally since 1993 when his college classmates commissioned a drawing of an unpopular professor for a 12-pack of Keystone light. Over the years the pay improved and his political views improved. He went from being very liberal to very libertarian. That is the correct worldview. He can prove it. He'll draw you a picture to show you.
From the time Mike Beckom could hold a pen, his dad taught him how to draw and appreciate cartoons. Never one to like class instruction, Mike trotted off down his own path, eschewing formal instruction, and used his drawing skills for everything under the sun EXCEPT something useful. Early on, he’d draw to impress girls in school. Later, he’d draw to entertain his kids. As the years rolled by, Mike’s dad would ask, “So what’re you gonna DO with your talents?” Mostly, Mike didn’t “do.”