NPR: 'Truth' Cartoon Wins Scientists Group's Contest

'Truth' Cartoon Wins Scientists Group's Contest

Truth will out! Depictions of it also help win editorial cartooning contests.

Last week, the Union of Concerned Scientists announced the winner of its 2007 Science Idol: Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest. The winner, Jesse Springer of Eugene, Ore., won with a cartoon that "depicts politicians shoveling dirt onto the word 'Truth' as scientists work to uncover it."

Springer received nearly 4,300 of the 20,000 votes cast. Here's a collection of all 12 cartoons that made it to the finals. They're funny, irreverent and quite blunt, so you might want to avoid them if you're a Bush appointee in a science- or health-related government agency.

The winning cartoon.

Jesse Springer/Courtesy Union of Concerned Scientists

4:16 PM ET | 07-31-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Jesse, great cartoon! It simply speaks volumes that even a 1st grader could understand.

It's not only the Federal government that clouds the truth, it's the media as well. The conservative talk shows have their biased distortions. Celebrity know-it-alls fashion their pieces of truth as well. Even those that stand behind a pulpit seem to promote a veil of ignorance. I see the truth as a soccer ball being stabbed by various special interest groups until the slow leaking ball hardly resembles a ball at all when it finally reaches the general public.

Sent by Billy | 5:45 PM ET | 07-31-2007

I don't know if we should blame the distortion of science and truth on just the Republicans, but it has certainly gotten worse in recent years. That former surgeon general just said he was muzzled, and we've heard lots about climate scientists having their work messed with.

All of the cartoons on the UCS site are cool. Thanks for letting us know about them!

Sent by Carolyn C | 9:37 AM ET | 08-01-2007

I wouldn't be so quick to endorse the California GOP electoral college proposal on a national basis. While I fully agree that the electoral college is a sham and removes any hint of democracy from our election system, the counting of electoral votes on a county by county basis is not the answer either. It has been my observation that while many states may lean democratic, the number of counties in those states that lean republican frequently outnumbers the democratic leaning counties. The result would be to nominate a majority of republican electoral college representatives when a state voted democratic. Watch what you wish for. You might just get it.

Sent by David | 6:55 PM ET | 08-09-2007

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