Universal Uclick Editorial Cartoonists Matt Bors and Jen Sorensen Receive Prestigious Awards

Kansas City, Mo. (October 7, 2013) – Universal Uclick editorial cartoonists Matt Bors and Jen Sorensen have recently been honored with prestigious editorial and journalism industry awards, adding to the individual honors each has received in the past 18 months.   

Matt Bors has been named the winner of the 2013 John Fischetti Award for his political cartoon illustrating the growth rate of non-white births in America.

“I was happy with the comic, but didn't think it was anything special and quickly moved on to my next deadline,” Bors said. “But when I posted it online, I was surprised by how fast it spread. Within a day it had become one of the most popular cartoons I'd ever done.”

Created in honor of Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist John Fischetti and administered by Columbia College Chicago, the annual award is presented to a staff, syndicated or regularly published professional cartoonist for cartoons on current social and political subjects published in a daily or weekly newspaper or regularly published periodical. The award announcement was made on October 7.

“It's an honor to be tapped by Columbia College Chicago for an award named after John Fischetti,” Bors said.
 
A Canton, Ohio, native and current Portland, Ore., resident, Bors attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and, at age 23, went on to become the youngest syndicated cartoonist in the country. In 2012, Bors was awarded the Herblock Prize for Excellence in Editorial Cartooning and the Sigma Chi Delta Award for Editorial Cartooning (circulation of 100,000+). In the same year, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.

Jen Sorensen has been honored with a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. The award was presented to Sorensen on Sept. 26 in Washington, D.C. for a long-form comic detailing health-care challenges faced by self-employed Americans. Established in 1968, the award recognizes reporters who focus on issues reflecting Robert F. Kennedy’s concerns, including human rights, social justice and the power of individual action. Judged by more than 50 journalists each year, it has become the largest program of its kind.

“Receiving the RFK Award has been one of the greatest experiences of my career,” Sorensen said. “I appreciate that the RFKs recognize the journalistic significance of nonfiction comics and editorial cartoons. The ceremony in DC left me feeling extra-inspired.”
 
Residing in Austin, Texas, Sorensen was raised in Lancaster, Pa., and attended the University of Virginia, where she drew cartoons for college publications. She began her weekly strip in 1998, which quickly became political. Throughout the past decade, Sorensen has been a runner-up for the Alternative Newsweekly Award multiple times, placing first in her category in 2005, and winning the award in 2012. In the same year, Sorensen was the Herblock Prize Finalist. She also received an Aronson Journalism Award from Hunter College in New York City in 2010. In May, she won a National Cartoonists Society Award for Best Editorial Cartoon.
To view Bors’ and Sorensen’s most recent work, visit www.gocomics.com/matt-bors  or www.gocomics.com/jen-sorensen. 

For more information about the John Fischetti award, visit www.colum.edu/Academics/Journalism/Fischetti/. Information about the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award can be found at rfkcenter.org/us-journalism-awards?lang=en. 

About Universal Uclick
Universal Uclick is the largest independent content syndicate in the world and a leading digital entertainment provider of humor, comic strips, political cartoons and other content for print, Web and mobile devices. Universal Uclick provides editorial development, licensing and other distribution services for iconic brands such as Doonesbury, Dear Abby, Miss Manners and some of the most significant comics in history, including Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, Peanuts, Dilbert, For Better or For Worse, Cathy and Ziggy. Recent standout successes include Lio, Cul de Sac, Pearls Before Swine, Get Fuzzy, Big Nate and The Argyle Sweater. A full comic catalog can be found at GoComics.com or via its mobile/tablet app on multiple platforms. For more information on Universal Uclick, visit UniversalUclick.com.

Media Contact:
Julie Halper, Universal Uclick/GoComics 
816.581.7658     jhalper@amuniversal.com