Society of Professional Journalists and Association of American Editorial Cartoonists

 For the years to come, Sigma Delta Chi will continue to grow exponentially in chapters and members. He will give back to the community of journalists. They began to mark notable historic sites in the name of SPJ. In 1969, women were granted membership, and 70 women joined immediately. 

"The Society of Professional Journalists is dedicated to perpetuating a free press at the cornerstone of our nation & our liberty." 

The official mission statement of the Society of Professional Journalists declares a promise to uphold ethical journalistic through thick and thin for the sake of what the United States of America stands for. This directly pays homage to our constitutional rights as cited by the First Amendment, providing "freedom of speech, or the press." 

This society began at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where it was formally known as Sigma Delta Chi on April 17th, 1909, which can be thoroughly explored on their website: spj.org. The first official meeting of ΣΔΧ was on May 6th, 1909. By November 25th, chapters had opened in ten other states, with the only requirement for opening a chapter being that the college had a daily campus news publication. These brothers would be junior and senior-year men exclusively. 

At the First National Convention for SPJ circa 1912, the fraternity's motto: "Talent, Truth & Energy," was established, along with publishing DePauw's first edition of The Quill. Shortly after that, in 1916, the Honorary became a Professional Fraternity. The first professional chapters were established in 1921, making Sigma Delta Chi leaders of 37 pro chapters. 

In 1973, Sigma Delta Chi was finally established officially as the Society of Professional Journalists, with a new version of the Code of Ethics. 

Throughout the years, more and more journalists have joined SPI in the search for assistance towards their professional journalist career at any point. College students look toward it for connections and workshops, intermittent members pick SPJ for ways to advance their careers, and experienced professionals to bestow their knowledge to the younger generations. 

On a similar note, The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists was founded in 1957, led by John Stampone, and dedicated to " championing and defending editorial cartoons and free speech as essential to liberty in the US and throughout the world." The AAEC aims to be an international leader in support of the human, civil, and artistic rights of editorial cartoonists around the world and to stand with other international groups in support of the profession.

While AAEC has less history than SPJ, the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists sponsors a nationwide project called "Cartoons for the Classroom" designed to aid educators at all levels in teaching history, economics, social studies, and current events on a digestible level for all ages. 

In 2022, the Pulitzer Prize committee suddenly replaced the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning with the Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary, which would not be a fiasco to anyone not invented in editorial cartoons. However, this award change completely undermined the cartoonist's award. The AAEC had stated that the Pulitzer Board should reinstate the previous award title, citing that editorial cartoons must be their category while also being able to recognize Illustrated Reporting as a separate form. They wrote:

"Editorial cartoons are quick, in-the-moment commentary, whose artists have to educate themselves on complex issues and craft well-informed opinions in a single take that emphasizes clarity under daily deadlines. Illustrated reporting, or comics journalism, takes days, weeks, or months to craft a story, which can run for pages and may or may not be presenting an opinion."

It is still being determined if the issue has been resolved at this moment. However, representing themselves for this award is only one of the activism topics they cover. By promoting a daily cartoon on their site, they are able to promote artists speaking out about social, political, and cultural issues to spread awareness.