| Michael Ramirez | |
|---|---|
| Born | Michael Patrick Ramirez (1961-05-11)May 11, 1961 (age 64) |
| Nationality | American |
| Area | cartoonist |
Notable works | Editorial cartoons |
| Awards | full list |
Michael Patrick Ramirez (born May 11, 1961) is an American cartoonist for theLas Vegas Review-Journal. His cartoons present mostlyconservative viewpoints. He is a two-timePulitzer Prize winner.[1]
Ramirez was born inTokyo, Japan, to aMexican-American father andJapanese-American mother.[2] He graduated from theUniversity of California, Irvine in 1984 with a bachelor's degree. He worked forThe Commercial Appeal of Memphis for seven years and then for theLos Angeles Times. In 1994, he was awarded thePulitzer Prize forEditorial Cartooning. He again won the Pulitzer for editorial cartooning in 2008. He is a three-time winner of theSociety of Professional Journalists'Sigma Delta Chi Award for excellence in journalism in 1995, 1997 and 2007.[citation needed] In 1996, he was given the Mencken Award for Best Editorial Cartoon.[citation needed] He is a regular contributor toUSA Today andThe Weekly Standard, and his work has a subscription/distribution of over five hundred and fifty newspapers and magazines throughCreators Syndicate. He was also the co-editor of theInvestor's Business Daily editorial page.[1] In 2018, he joined theLas Vegas Review-Journal.[3]
Ramirez initially planned to study medicine in college and considered journalism a hobby. He became seriously interested in that field when his first cartoon for the college newspaper, lampooning candidates for student office, had the student assembly demanding an apology.[citation needed]
Ramirez was a regular guest onThe NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. He has been onCNN,CNN International,Fox News Sunday,BBC Television,BBC Radio,NPR, andTheMichael Reagan Show.[citation needed] His cartoons have been featured on CNN,Fox News,The O'Reilly Factor, andThe Rush Limbaugh Show. His work has been published in such publications asThe New York Times,The Washington Post,The New York Post,Time Magazine,Politico,National Review andU.S. News & World Report.[citation needed]
He is the author of two books,Everyone Has the Right to My Opinion andGive Me Liberty or Give Me Obamacare.[4][5]
In October 2000, theLos Angeles Times published a Ramirez cartoon that appeared to depict a Jewish man worshiping the word "Hate" embedded into theWestern Wall. According to the Times Associate Editor Narda Zacchino ombudsman, this provoked an "unprecedented" negative reaction. Ramirez denied singling out Jews, claiming that the wall in the cartoon was not meant to suggest the Western Wall, and that while there was a Jew worshiping at the hate wall, there was also a figure bowing before it wearing akaffiyeh (though it is difficult to see).[6][7]
In July 2003, theLos Angeles Times published a Sunday editorial cartoon by Ramirez that depicted a man pointing a gun at President Bush's head; it was a takeoff on the 1969Pulitzer Prize-winning photo byEddie Adams that showed Vietnamese generalNguyễn Ngọc Loan executing a Viet Cong prisoner at point-blank range. The cartoon prompted a visit from theSecret Service, but no charges were filed.[8][9]
In September 2007, theColumbus Dispatch published a Ramirez cartoon depictingIran as a sewer (labeled with the word "extremism"), with cockroaches spreading from it overIraq,Afghanistan, and other countries of the Middle East. Some commentators compared this with characterizations both of Jews in pre-HolocaustGermany andRwandanTutsis before the 1994genocide.[10]
In July 2013,Investor's Business Daily published a Ramirez cartoon that depictedlynching in its criticism ofAl Sharpton.[11]
In October 2013,Investor's Business Daily published a Ramirez cartoon that drew a parallel between the problems of theAffordable Care Act web site debut and theSpace Shuttle Challenger disaster,[12] to which many critics objected.[13]
The Washington Post retracted a cartoon by Ramirez in November 2023, published as a satirical a comment on theGaza war. Titled "Human Shields", it depicted a large-nosed snarling Palestinian man labelled "Hamas" stating "How dare Israel attack civilians..." while strapped with four children and a cowering woman wearing a hijab. The cartoon's publication sparked a backlash, with critics decrying the cartoon as "racist," leading to its withdrawal from thePost, but the cartoon remains published at Ramirez's home newspaper,The Las Vegas Review-Journal.[14][15] Ramirez defended his cartoon, stating that "[i]ts focus is on a specific individual [senior Hamas officialGhazi Hamad] and the statements he made on behalf of a specific organization he represents".[16]
Ramirez's cartoons were carried in theLos Angeles Times until the end of 2005.[17]Investor's Business Daily carried his cartoons from 2006 until the end of its run as a daily newspaper in 2016.[18]
Foreword byWilliam J. Bennett
Foreword byDick Cheney & Afterword byRush Limbaugh
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
