Sun editorial cartoonist earns national honors

The Sun’s award-winning editorial cartoonist Mike Smith is collecting another national honor for his work.

Smith took third place in the editorial cartoon category of the 87th National Headliner Awards, which were announced earlier this month. The contest is one of oldest and largest in the country recognizing journalism achievement.

Smith’s cartoons have appeared in the Sun for more than 35 years. When Smith started at the newspaper in the 1980s, there were about 250 editorial cartoonists nationally. But as newsrooms have shrunk, there’s only a few dozen remaining. And Smith, who has won many statewide, regional and nation awards, is one of the best.

It’s the fourth time he’s been honored with a National Headliner Award, said Smith, whose work also appears in newspapers across the nation via the King Features Syndicate.

“It’s wonderful to see Mike Smith’s colleagues recognize him yet again for his creativity, his artistic skills and his razor-sharp satire,” said Ric Anderson, the Sun’s editorial page editor. “Mike’s work has been gracing the pages of the Sun for more than 35 years, during which he’s collected a large and growing trove of honors. We’re deeply proud to share his cartoons with our readers.”

The Los Angeles Times won 15 awards in this year’s Headliner contest, mostly for its coverage of the helicopter crash that killed basketball star Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others. The Star Tribune in Minnesota won for its coverage of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of a police officer. The Review-journal won a first-place award for its coverage of the Alpine Motel Apartments fire in downtown that killed six people.