Daryl Cagle is one of the prominent political cartoonists in America and one of the most active in the MSNBC website. He visited Algeria as a member of the Jury at the International Festival of Cartoons. He expressed his admiration for the contents of the Algerian cartoons and how the Algerian press deal with the cartoonists and explained the reality of this art in America in this interview.

• -Your cartoons enjoy adequate protection, while in our country cartoonists do not have legal or technical systems which protect them from piracy. Could you tell us about your way of working at the American newspapers?
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• D-C: There is no similarity between the American and Algerian cartoons. I do not mean the content because I saw professional models that truly reflect the professionalism and freedom of the Algerian cartoonists. However, I mean the organization which is purely professional, because I discovered that each newspaper deals with one cartoonist, in America the newspapers deal with a large group of cartoonists who are belonging to a trade union which monopolizes copyrights because the work is codified according to clear contracts and terms and every cartoonist who joined it must respect the agency. Newspapers buy and the managers choose.
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• -What is your opinion about the Algerian cartoons?
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• D-C: The Algerian cartoonists are amazing and humble, and I felt this since I arrived to Algeria. I saw things I’d never seen in America, and what caught my eye was the intelligence of Echorouk’s cartoonist. I met him in Algiers, when visiting the newspaper. Actually I applaud the efforts of the Algerian government which support this activity through organizing this kind of events in order to create an atmosphere of competition. Here I am visiting you today as a member of the Jury at the International Festival of Cartoons.
• – You are contracting with the largest site currently, and you said you are not famous, why?
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• D-C: Actually my career started in politics for a period of fifteen years before I become a cartoonist and create games and animated cartoons, then they offered me a work in “Mid Week” newspaper, and then I worked with “Slate.com” and “Microsoft”, and now I’m a contractor with “MSNBC.com”. This gradient is required to become a national figure, known by everyone in the United Sates.
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• – Do you enjoy absolute freedom in America or in the world?
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• D-C: Now I can say that I draw what I want, in the past I just convey the thoughts of others, I’m happy when some people suffer because of my cartoons. Actually the situation is different in your country, particularly for the handling of commercial and financial side.
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• – To what extent has the financial crisis affected on the media scene and on you, particularly since your financial situation is linked to the situation of the newspapers?
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• D-C: The financial crisis affected largely on our work, in the past we dealt with 1500 daily newspapers, recently we are dealing with only half the number, as the number of cartoonists is about 70 only because most of them lost their jobs. The newspapers always dispense with cartoonists who have daring and described them as “troublesome” and prefer cartoonists with modest and normal ideas which do not cause trouble or controversial. This has opened the door before the leeches who took the opportunity to dilute the cartoon and put it away from its real objectives through emptying its content.
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• – Who is the most famous cartoonist who sits on the throne of the American press?
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• D-C: We do not have a national newspaper and the most famous cartoonist in Denver for example, does not mean necessarily that his cartoons are purchased in another state.
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•  –You mean that it’s easy to obey the ideas of the newspaper, even if they oppose your personal ideas and principals?
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• D-C: The commercial agency is not responsible for the cartoonist’s ideas, and personally my ideas are inspired from the daily news in the whole world.
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•  –What was your reaction towards the Danish cartoons which insult our prophet Mohamed –peace is upon him-?
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• D-C: The Danish cartoons harming the prophet Mohamed is a misunderstanding of the role of the cartoonist because he really must draw what he wants and assume his responsibility, but he must not insult any other religion. I confirm that the manager of the newspaper hired a cartoonist in order to assault the prophet Mohamed when he did not find such cartoonists he comply with the agency of cartoonists and gave him a sum of money to draw what he wants. The one who did that is not a cartoonist because he just draws what the manger’s wants in exchange for money or on command. There are American cartoonists who drew after this event in response to such shameful cartoons and I personally did so.      
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• –  Michael Jackson and George W Bush are often characterized in your cartoons, why? and What is the aim behind criticising Osama’s Nobel prise?
• D-C: What Obama did to win the Nobel Prise, this is the question posed by my cartoons, that’s why I draw him naked wearing the medal award. Press dealt with the matter in a manner that inspired us so much. Michael Jackson is a gift to the cartoonists.