View Spark segment on Mark Fiore. Original air date: February 2008. (Running Time: 8:15)

View the segment on Mark Fiore. A co-production of Spark and PBS NewsHour for This Week in Northern California. Original air date: May 2010. (Running Time: 6:59)

In an era where audiences prefer more comedic news sources like the Jon Stewart Show and the Colbert Report, political cartoonist Mark Fiore believes that animation gives him a bigger arsenal to both captivate and inform. His hectic production process for a two-minute cartoon consists of researching, storyboarding, creating a soundtrack, drawing caricatures, and animating — crammed into three days so that he can stay current with the latest headlines.

When selecting his subject matter, he explains, “I just go after something that makes me mad. If I can’t believe what I’m reading, those are always the best starting points for a cartoon.” Spark visits with Fiore as he creates a cartoon riffing on Hillary Clinton’s emotional moment before the 2008 New Hampshire primary, and the media frenzy that followed.

Mark Fiore began his career as a print cartoonist at the San Jose Mercury News. He left in 2001 to turn his attention to the animated realm. His cartoons appear on a variety of online news sites including SF Gate, CBS News, and Slate. He has been awarded a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and has also received an Online Journalism Award from the Online News Association and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.

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Fiore, A.C.T.’s Blood Knot, and Liu

Meet a cartoonist and painter along with a cast and crew -- all dealing with politics.