by Andrea Fam

What are these doodles that seem to warrant valuable place in important editorial publications?

Cartoons have two main composing elements: caricature and allusion. As our reliable friend Dictionary.com so aptly summarizes, “Cartoons are a ridiculously oversimplified or stereotypical representation of current public figures or issues”. Cartoons themselves can further be broken down into those of the comical genre or those of satirical content.

How did these drawings find a place in the political scene? Cartoons first graced politics during the Protestant Reformation in the 1500’s, which made use of heavy visual propaganda. A factor that influenced the rise of pictorial representations during that period was the high illiteracy rate.

Martin Luther, a German monk, theologian, university professor and church reformer, who is responsible for the changed course of Western Civilization, recognized that in order to lead a truly popular movement, one had to appeal to the majority denomination—the peasants—thus ensuring greatest amount of comprehension. Today, political cartoons provide a humorous insight into the political climate. They also explain the pertinent issues of complex situations to the man on the street, much like what Martin Luther set out to do.

Political cartoons are essentially drawings that soften the hard exterior of political issues. Take the current US presidential campaign for example. The tension between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the last two presidential candidates from the Democratic party, is thick enough to slice with a blunt knife, but for those who are not hard-nosed political analysts, political cartoons provide somewhat accurate depictions of current issues, without the fire and brimstone.

Today’s society is more accommodating of political cartoons. Art, design and freedom of expression have, over the many years, broken through the barriers of social acceptance and is now heard, seen and felt. Similarly, political cartoons are now an integral part of our daily literature.

A political cartoon, like any other art form, communicates messages of current political issues, but that fact does not make these drawings in their square boxes any less artistic in their delivery. In fact, there is a distinct style of illustration from one cartoonist to another, such as cartoonists Pat Oliphant and RJ Matson.

In today’s media-saturated society where most young Americans get their news from late-night comedians such as Leno and Letterman, who incorporate political jokes in their shows, should political cartoonist be worried that theirs is a dying form of political entertainment? David Horsey Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, does not seem to think so.

It can be assumed that with this much attention being paid to political issues even if it is delivered in a comedic manner, people are willing to think and even discuss political events, which in itself is promising news for political cartoonists.

Brent Stahl, vice president of MORI Research, believes cartoons are one of the major attractions of editorial pages. If you ask any number of young and some middle aged adults, how many of them first make a beeline for the cartoons and then skim over the numerous blaring headlines, an unsurprising majority would agree that that is the sequence of events. "The fact that readership surveys consistently tell publishers and editors that readers want more graphic elements, local content, and local commentary places a staff editorial cartoonist as one of the most valuable elements a newspaper can give their readers," says Bruce Plante, editorial cartoonist for the Chattanooga Times Free Press and outgoing president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.

Therefore, I believe that for as long as there are news publications, there will be a place for political cartoonist and their opinionated interpretations.

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ANDREA FAM
Freelance Writer

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