“Creativity, Innovation, Wit and Style”: Editorial Cartoons as Boundary Objects in Australia’s Journalism Awards, 1958–2024

Editorial (or political) cartoons occupy an in-between space in the news media landscape, understood by practitioners and located in scholarship as works of comic art and vital journalistic outputs. Cartoons span industry and professional boundaries in their locations, conditions and technologies of production; formats and methods of dissemination and reception; and potential social, cultural and political impacts. This article considers the evolving location of editorial cartoons and cartoonists in relation to the role and mission of journalism, and their connection to newsroom cultures and news agendas. The Australian Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism, which have featured a dedicated cartoon category since 1958, are used as a case study. Industry awards like The Walkleys celebrate Australian traditions of comic art and satire, and promote particular constructions of professional journalism’s value for and contribution to Australian society. Through consideration of the markers of “excellence” privileged by these awards - and the ways they are discussed, reported and celebrated in media coverage - this article argues that Australian editorial cartoons operate as “boundary objects".