1) The power of political cartoons: | |
Matt Wuerker draws cartoons for a living. He’s a staff cartoonist for “Politico”, an American political journalism outlet, just outside Washington. “We’re a strange mix of things, in that we are making serious commentary on serious topics, but we’re doing it not so seriously - and we get to draw our opinions with silly pictures.” The Pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist says the main advantage of a political cartoon is being able to communicate an opinion very quickly.
“I can draw a picture and put in a little word bubble, and you can read it in about four seconds, and you get it. It has to hit you in the face kinda hard - and fast. And, um, you know it when you’ve been hit.”
In this cartoon, for example, Wuerker was inspired by an iconic image by American artist Norman Rockwell, reflecting a traditional scene of American culture. The cartoonist says, over the years, his craft has evolved. “When I started forty years ago, doing cartoons of… an editorial cartoon was a black and white, single-panel cartoon in a newspaper. And now, cartoons can be color, they can be animated, they can be graphic novels that are political”… like this 2018 Pulitzer prize-winning work by journalist Jake Halpern and illustrator Michael Sloan, currently on display at the Newseum in Washington. The series tells the story of two Syrian families’ harrowing journey from their homeland to the US where they settled as refugees in 2016.
Patty Rhule is Vice President of Exhibits at the Newseum.
“Since the beginning of this country, editorial cartoons have been framing issues, and framing debate.”
“I can draw a picture and put in a little word bubble, and you can read it in about four seconds, and you get it. It has to hit you in the face kinda hard - and fast. And, um, you know it when you’ve been hit.”
In this cartoon, for example, Wuerker was inspired by an iconic image by American artist Norman Rockwell, reflecting a traditional scene of American culture. The cartoonist says, over the years, his craft has evolved. “When I started forty years ago, doing cartoons of… an editorial cartoon was a black and white, single-panel cartoon in a newspaper. And now, cartoons can be color, they can be animated, they can be graphic novels that are political”… like this 2018 Pulitzer prize-winning work by journalist Jake Halpern and illustrator Michael Sloan, currently on display at the Newseum in Washington. The series tells the story of two Syrian families’ harrowing journey from their homeland to the US where they settled as refugees in 2016.
Patty Rhule is Vice President of Exhibits at the Newseum.
“Since the beginning of this country, editorial cartoons have been framing issues, and framing debate.”
2) Tabloids: |
In 2011, there was a big scandal involving (= impliquant) Rupert Murdoch and his newspaper News of the World. Essentially, what happened is: it was discovered that the News of the World, the newspaper, was involved in some illegal phone-tapping (= mise sur écoute téléphonique). What broke the scandal, really, was that it was discovered that they were tapping the phone of the parents of a little girl who had been abducted and murdered (= qui avait été enlevée et tuée). When this was discovered, there was a lot of moral outrage (= indignation) amongst people. This is obviously a very shady (= louche) and illegal journalistic practice.
In many respects (= À bien des égards), people weren’t too surprised that this happened, because, the News of the World… people already knew that it was a bit of a - a sort of… well, it was a tabloid newspaper (= un tabloïde, un journal à scandale, à sensation), a tabloid newspaper concerned more with providing entertainment to people rather than quality reporting.
It’s considered that tabloid newspapers will go to any length to (= feront tout leur possible pour) get some sort of story out of (...) .
Tabloid newspapers, in the UK especially, are extremely influential, have a very large audience and a strong impact on the population, and it’s understood that the way that they report stories – and what they report – they can influence elections and the direction of the country.
The News of the World is owned by Australian man Rupert Murdoch who’s a newspaper, or media, tycoon (= magnat de la presse). He’s an extremely influential man in the world, perhaps more influential than politicians themselves. He owns numerous newspapers throughout the world – in the US, in Australia, and in the UK. He’s the real embodiment (= l'incarnation) of what we would call ‘the fourth power’: the press.
In many respects (= À bien des égards), people weren’t too surprised that this happened, because, the News of the World… people already knew that it was a bit of a - a sort of… well, it was a tabloid newspaper (= un tabloïde, un journal à scandale, à sensation), a tabloid newspaper concerned more with providing entertainment to people rather than quality reporting.
It’s considered that tabloid newspapers will go to any length to (= feront tout leur possible pour) get some sort of story out of (...) .
Tabloid newspapers, in the UK especially, are extremely influential, have a very large audience and a strong impact on the population, and it’s understood that the way that they report stories – and what they report – they can influence elections and the direction of the country.
The News of the World is owned by Australian man Rupert Murdoch who’s a newspaper, or media, tycoon (= magnat de la presse). He’s an extremely influential man in the world, perhaps more influential than politicians themselves. He owns numerous newspapers throughout the world – in the US, in Australia, and in the UK. He’s the real embodiment (= l'incarnation) of what we would call ‘the fourth power’: the press.