Why Political Cartoons?
For hundreds of years, cartoons successfully called attention to political issues in a way that is understandable at a glance. In the early days of these cartoons they served both audiences who could not read at all and those who were highly educated. Today, they also work well for audiences with digitally-induced short attention spans.
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Cartoons not only serve as an important historical record of political criticism through the ages, they also serve as a powerful tactic of resistance. Using humor to resist authoritarian governments has been shown to successfully break through barriers of apathy and inspire people to push back against oppression. While in eras past resistance may have been primarily in the form of cartoons and theatre, today we see it in content creators on TikTok and Instagram. Because of their history and permanence, political cartoons not only provide contemporaneous insight into the current world at large, they provide a a crucial historical legacy.
Political Cartoon by Benjamin Franklin, The Pennsylvania Gazette, 1754
Kukryniksy: Josef Goebbels portraying
Adolph Hitler as a Teutonic warrior knight, 1941.
World History Archive / Alamy Stock Photo
Herb Block, The Washington Post, 1950
A Herblock Cartoon
© The Herb Block Foundation
Russian artists Kukryniksy published this cartoon in 1941 showing Josef Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda, painting a picture of Hitler as a physically much larger, stronger man than he actually was. The meaning of the cartoon is that Hitler was actually weak and unimpressive in reality, but a powerful propaganda network made people think he was bold leader worth following. We see this same strategy in use today, but much more prolifically as AI and doctored photographs circulate on billionaire-owned media sites specifically to make insecure leaders appear “tough.”
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Herb Block was one of the most prolific American political cartoonists of the 20th century. His career spanned 1929 through 2001 and he created more than 18,000 cartoons. Imagine starting with the Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression, and ending after his 18th presidential race. As you can see in this 1950 The Washington Post cartoon, the wealthy manipulating Congress is not a new issue.
Sadly, it is likely this cartoon would not be published in today's billionaire-owned version of the newspaper as evidenced by the fact that earlier this year The Washington Post refused to publish a political cartoon by Ann Telnes because it was​ unflattering to its billionaire owner. Despite working for the newspaper for 17 years, she quit rather than let her work be censored. She won a Pulitzer Prize shortly thereafter. Ann's departure was yet another nail in the coffin that has caused subscribers of billionaire-owned papers such as The Washington Post and The Los Angles Times to leave in droves. But too many people continue to get their news from similar tainted sources.
​While it is true that people can seek out political cartoons online, that is a prime example of “push vs pull” information delivery. Once part of the printed newspaper ecosystem, cartoons were pushed out to a wide audience of viewers, regardless of whether they specifically sought them out -- everyone who subscribed to their local newspaper saw the entire paper.
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Cartoons for Democracy uses the “push” method, where people see political cartoons without having sought them out. Starting with postcards, volunteers will mail postcards with selected cartoons and a brief message, planting seeds of doubt as to their existing media sources, hopefully undermining a key source of influence billionaires hold. With enough donations we hope to expand to billboards, bus ads, and other similar media.
Courtesy: Ann Telnaes