Cartoonist John Branch Loses his Job

Another day brings more news of cartoonist job losses and rumors of more to come.  John Branch got his pink slip today, along with 135 other employees at the San Antonio Express-News.  See John’s cartoon archive here. John sent me this note:

Dear Daryl,

Thanks for your message.  I was one of the 135 people (75 in the newsroom) at the Express-News who received the bad news Wednesday.  It wasn’t a surprise given the dire climate of the newspaper industry these days, bit’s certainly a shock when it happens to you and the ones you work with.

I will be working until March 20th. I haven’t had time to figure out much beyond that.

I’m especially disappointed, given that I’ve been concentrating on local and state issues for the past few months, enjoying it and receiving a lot of positive feedback.  After 28 years here, I’m convinced that there isn’t a better place than Texas to be an editorial cartoonist. Hopefully, I can find an outlet and continue to draw.

My thanks to you and your readers.

John

Here are a couple of John’s recent cartoons.  See more here.