Cartoonists International
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A roundup of items about editorial cartoonists from around the world.
Dateline: Philippines
WHAT WAS supposed to be a routine posting of a cartoon illustration to mark National Press Freedom Day on Aug. 30 is turning out to be another TomasinoWeb controversy in the making.
La Stampa received instructions to revise the material from one illustrating the lack of press freedom to a new one carrying a theme about artificial intelligence and fake news, the editor in chief of the official student publication of UST Senior High School told the Varsitarian.
The irony was not lost on the La Stampa editors.
Ella Mae A. Sison at The Varsitarian reports on a student newspaper’s overseers not allowing a cartoon about press freedom.
“They said the [publication material] would be misleading because they see the cartoon as ‘a weak individual’ who goes along with the higher-ups. La Stampa explained how we wanted to show journalists’ persistence in their duty; however, they still did not approve,” Escuin said.
La Stampa tried to negotiate by explaining the cartoon’s message and offering to clarify it in the caption, she said.
“An almost three-hour discourse only led them to disapprove the [publication material] by simply not replying,” she said.
Escuin said the publication was restricted to publishing “news,” and even those reports were often toned down to “avoid stirring up noise.”
Dateline: Turkey
Six staff members from the LeMan satire magazine are facing prison sentences over a cartoon published in the magazine’s Jun 26 issue, which has led to formal charges of “inciting hatred” and “insulting religious values.”
A court yesterday accepted the prosecutors’ indictment seeking prison sentences of up to four years for each suspect.
The cartoon, featured in the magazine’s Jun 26 issue, depicted two elderly men identified as Muhammad and Moses floating above a war-torn Middle Eastern city. The figures exchange greetings, with one saying, “Salamun Alaykum, I am Muhammad,” and the other replying, “Aleichem Shalom, I am Moses.” The illustration appeared to reference the conflicts in Gaza, Beirut, Tel Aviv, and Tehran.
The BIA News Desk keeps us apprised of what is happening to the LeMan journalists.
In response to the backlash, LeMan had issued a statement rejecting accusations of anti-Muslim sentiment. It had saif the two men in the cartoon were individuals named Muhammad and Moses, not the prophets.
Dateline: South Korea
A controversial cartoon featuring South Korea’s disgraced former first couple Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim Keon-hee is set to be displayed in public again this month, three years after its initial showing was cut short under government pressure.
Yoonsukyeolcha by Park Se-eun from Chonnam Arts High School will be included in the annual Bucheon International Comics Festival as part of a retrospective show of prize-winning works from 2021 to 2025
The satirical work came in second overall in the nationwide student cartoon and webtoon contest organised by the agency in 2022. The name of the work combines Yoon’s name and the word yeolcha, meaning train in Korean.
The South China Morning Post’s Asia Desk tells of the return of a banned cartoon by Park Se-eun.
When it was first displayed in 2022, it came under fire from officials in Yoon’s administration.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued a stern warning to the agency as the terms of its sponsorship stipulated that sexually explicit, violent or political works should be disqualified. The ministry cancelled its sponsorship of the 2023 festival and drastically reduced state subsidies to the agency, according to the Maeil Business Newspaper.
Thank goodness that could never happen in the United States.
Though things you would think couldn’t happen in America are happening.
Wandering away from legitimate editorial cartooning:
Dateline: Chicago
In March, Chicago Police Officer Anthony Banks received an email on his work-issued cell phone.
The message contained a caricature of a Black man with a large head, oversized lips, and a wide nose, according to the lawsuit. Above the image was the question: “WHEN IS A N****R MOST FRUSTRATED?” Below it was the answer: “WHEN HE TRIES TO BLOW HIS OWN BRAINS OUT!”
The cartoon depicted a man holding a gun in his mouth, a tear falling from his eye as a bullet exited his head. The man, drawn with two other bullet holes, was captioned in substandard English: “DAM…I DUN MISSED AGIN!”
The cartoon is part of evidence in a federal lawsuit filed August 26 by Banks, alleging racial harassment, retaliation, and a hostile work environment at the Chicago Police Department (CPD).
Erick Johnson at The Chicago Crusader reports on policing while Black.
A retired Black police officer told the Chicago Crusader that racism exists in CPD, particularly toward Black officers who are outspoken.
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