The newspaper is one of the oldest forms of written communication in a society for a person to share their opinion or views, the oldest form being books which also sometimes contained political/editorial cartoons themselves. An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration or comic strip containing a political or social message, which usually relates to current events or personalities. You can see editorial cartoons in the Sunday funnies section or the editorial page, like Doonesbury and Boondocks. As already mentioned these types of cartoons are trying to give off political message of some sort of what the artist/creator may be in favor or against a particular event dealing with normally the government at the time. Since the editorial and the Sunday funnies sections are commonly read by a lot of today’s society it is probably one the best ways to promote an opinion about some political event that may be going on or has passed.
Editorial cartoons are made specifically to entertain and amuse readers. Most of the time the editorial cartoons are set up in a way to make a situation look funny, even if the final message is in support of the political event. With giving the message a cartoon humorous look not only does it attract views of audience it also may help the attended audience to get a better grasp and understanding of the political situation that may be going on. The audience does not have to agree or disagree with artist’s opinion since the editorial cartoon’s purpose to begin with is just to make hidden truths and the opinion of artist known to society.
I don’t necessarily agree with Marlette’s fears of editorial cartoons being endangered. If anything is happening to editorial cartoons they are expanding and increasing in number due to technologies like the internet allowing people to express themselves as cartoonist in a broader, cheaper, and faster way. The internet itself just grants that many more options and freedoms for artist to publish their political cartoons. Of course the amount of freedoms and options for artist who create these cartoons varies from country to country, but even then I doubt that stops the artist from trying to get their opinions out there.
I’m not much of a cartoon reader but I do think some are very funny and some are downright controversial. Cartoonists do draw their readers into their opinion and sometimes not, and that is what I think Marlette means by them becoming endangered. People get offended by the cartoon and then the newspaper sales suffer. Cartoons do reflect the artist views on various political events and/or topics so the chance of someone disagreeing is great. Cartoonist are expressing freedom of speech by publicizing their own views and I personally think that is what America is all about. I think I may even pay more attention to the funny pages now! I do agree with you on the whole internet access. Graphic cartoonist are all over the web and technology is definitely advancing so I doubt cartoons will completely disappear. Like Marlette mentions in his essay that cartoons come and go because it is opinionated. They are the first to go when budget cuts are under way and replaceable. Even though I don’t read cartoons very much, I do think it would be awful if they disappeared in the newspapers. It never hurt anyone to think a different way about something and be open to new ideas!
ReplyDeleteHey Ryan! I enjoyed your blog, you and I brought up some of the same points. I agree when you say Marlette is false to say editorial cartoons are endangered. As you said, they’re doing the just the opposite they’re expanding, just in a different medium. Technology has influenced society greatly, and almost everything is slowly moving toward the internet. Why not publish a cartoon were more people will view it and the cost to viewers is far cheaper. Yet I do think that by offending readers it brings more people in, oddly enough. We are interested in things that strike our emotions, good or bad. So I think a cartoon that is strong enough to affect our emotions would cause more readers to feel the extremes they hope to convey. Cartoonist being a liability to newspapers, I think is a bad argument. It should provoke thought not put someone off. But you’re right when you say that cartoonist is mostly trying to convey a hidden truth. It’s a vessel to use humor to get the truth across without putting such harsh information in the viewers face. Images are a very effective way of communication and many cartoons use it for exactly that. I’m glad someone sees what I saw in Marlette’s essay.
ReplyDeleteI agree typically the first thing I read in the newspaper is the funniest and I always enjoy the political cartoon. I do think that sometimes it is pointless for a cartoon. I do not understand some of them and it is like they go right over my head. Yes they are trying to get a message across in a humorous manner but is that really getting the message across. I do not know how serious the message would be taken. I agree, I do not think that the editorial cartoons are endangered but rather expanding. They are popular and I think a well-known way to communicate. I find too that technology is helping them and that you can now go online and get a copy of any political cartoon. I think political cartoons may have their issues but I do think that they are a nice form of political communication and I personally enjoy them. I also think that they serve a purpose that does not involve politics. I think that they are a great way to promote critical thinking in adults who have become extremely lazy.
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