Baltimore Sun Replaces Fired Political Cartoonist with AI-Generated Images

The Baltimore Sun fired 31-year staff cartoonist Kevin "KAL" Kallaugher in June 2025 with a phone call telling him Sunday would be his last day. By September 4, 2026, the paper was publishing AI-generated "cartoons" of generic Baltimoreans and a generic Mayor Brandon Scott standing in a generic Fells Point, captioned "Produced using Artificial Intelligence tools by the Baltimore Sun Editorial staff." Kallaugher, a two-time Pulitzer finalist and 2015 Herblock Prize winner whose work still runs in The Economist, called it "AI slop."

The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists issued an open letter declaring that The Sun had "finally and completely surrendered any remaining claim it may have had to journalistic legitimacy." The Herb Block Foundation called the images "insipid" and "borderline immoral," adding that they "certainly do not qualify as satire or opinion journalism." Publisher Trif Alatzas did not respond to requests for comment. The Sun is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting chairman David D. Smith, who acquired the paper in January 2024.