The Contributions Of Comic Journalism

In Understanding Comics, McCloud defines comics as, “Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer” (McCloud, 1993, p. 9).

Clay Shirky who wrote Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable (1993) argues that society doesn’t need newspapers society needs journalism to save society. Shirky supports this argument by giving a historical background to the problems newspapers face and how the problems have developed over time and the solutions society has came up with. The blogger concludes that in order for journalism to go farther new models must be created in place of past molds. Shirky directs this blog toward the current and future generations in attempt to motivate new models and methods of journalism.

The truth has been communicated through “The Siege” and other texts, in which some does not portray its entirety, therefore becomes problematic . “The Siege” and other texts manipulates the truth in a way where portions of the complete truth are concealed. In this society, the media has a significant influence towards the manipulation of truth, whether it be, they exaggerate the issue or misguide the audience, or, reveal the truth.The truth is a matter or fact that cannot be considered entirely false, therefore can easily be altered without becoming a lie.This is portrayed through the satirical series “Frontline: The Siege Episode”, whilst some texts such as the news article about the 40 dead Somalis in Yemen, demonstrate ethical truth. These texts reveals how truth is presented by the media, therefore highlighting the differences in effect, whether problematic or informative.

Humorists are present through multiple mediums such as talk shows, blog columns, and political cartoons. The different platforms humorists’ use lends different purposes for their content. For example, political cartoon artists have the creative liberty to create offensive content on certain political issues. The political cartoons

Since this presentation should be related to the specific part of the journalism, the newspaper journalism, I decided that it would be suitable to present a story, showing how the journalism can change, manipulate and have serious impact on the society as well as on the stability of the country itself. A story, how a single article can save people from life time of imprisonment and prove a government guilty.

Indeed, in an era where news of all kinds is only a click away, it seems odd that the simple cartoon could once have been the most influential form of media in the nation. However, one must realize that the target audience of these cartoons were illiterate immigrants and the impoverished masses; before exposure to Nast’s cartoons, they had no way to know that their beloved Tweed was corrupting politics at all. In addition,these comics were published at a time when the United States had the highest newspaper circulation per capita in the world; everyone had access to these cartoons (Leepson 54). Therefore, Nast could use his illustrations to turn politics into a tangible, understandable topic for the American masses; in doing this, Nast paved the way for future illustrators and journalists, such as Homer Davenport, who went on to caricaturize corruption just as his predecessor had (Wang,

Cartoonists were protesting everywhere, screaming out, standing on top of soapboxes. They gave shouts of, "DISNEY UNFAIR!" . Cartoonists held up placards that included phrases such as "ONE GENIUS AGAINST 1,200 GUINEA PIGS", and a picture of Pluto the dog with the phrase, "I'D RATHER BE A DOG THAN A SCAB!". Strikers and non-strikers alike exchanged harsh words, "Fink", "Scab", "Commie", and the like. Gunshots were fired. A non-striker poured a circle of gasoline around the agitators and made a threat to drop a lit cigarette onto it.8 The other events that took place over the course of the nine week long strike were absolutely brutal. Walt became convinced that communists had invaded his studio and reported the dissidents to the House Un-American

Why are comics not appreciated as much as the dry narratives of novels in the literary world? A comic is composed of symbols to express concepts shared by all people in their own social environment, and provide more tools than conventional art to truly show artistic intention.

Comics allow for a unique type of learning through the combination of prose and images. Not only does the reader have the ability to take away meaning from the text, but the images offer clarification and small details that one might miss when reading a novel or short story. “The Mixed Up Files”, a comic by Gabrielle Bell about how literature affected her life, and “Superman and Me”, an article by Sherman Alexie regarding comic books, include information about their childhoods. However, due to the ambiguity and the detail of the pictures and text in “The Mixed Up Files”, more information about Bell’s childhood is available to the reader.

Publishing visionaries Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst dominated the American journalism industry in the mid 1890s, whilst competing for circulation in a bitter rivalry, widely considered as the greatest newspaper war in history. Their revolutionary advances in the use of sensationalist material within print gave birth to the concept of ‘yellow journalism’, compiled of a ‘toxic formula - one part news to one part hype’ (Streitmatter, 2011). This would have a monumental impact on society of the period and still has an enduring influence on the current world of journalism today. Their commitment to a fresh brand of crude and vicarious storytelling helped to evolve newspaper journalism by pushing its very limits, thus redefining news media. However, whilst both men are regarded as the leaders of this radical and far-reaching practice, only Joseph Pulitzer can be credited as the father and creator of the concept, which influenced Hearst rendering him the follower of the great publisher.

In my view, the most significant time period in the development of literary journalism is the 1960’s through early 1980’s; also known as the period of New Journalism. The innovative journalistic style is a combination of fact and fiction writing. The literary journalists of this time period wrote about real-life situations using vivid descriptions and literary devices such as, characterization, scene setting, and dialogue. They wrote longer and more complex pieces similar to novels, consisting of more than one larger truth. The journalists pursued sources in the same manner as a conventional journalist; however, they would spend months, or even years gathering the facts. The narrative form plus the truth made the writing strong, allowing the

A graphic novel consists of both a narrative and its accompanying illustrations, which are capable of providing insight through a collection of images. Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical novel, Persepolis (2003), is a collection of her comic-strip memoirs, written and illustrated by Satrapi herself. Persepolis tells the story of Marjane’s growing up and coming of age in Iran’s capital, Tehran, during the Islamic Revolution. It is a story filled with noticeable moments, all of which are supported by the artwork Satrapi has decided to include. Further analysis of Satrapi’s artistic decisions reveals her choice to include symbols that often represent Marjane’s emotions. Objects such as mirrors and the use of body language in certain characters,

Since the times of the Persian Empires, propaganda has been an effective tool for forces of the State government, or other institutions trying to spread a political message, usually for militarily or humanitarian missions. In modern times, propaganda has taken a new face with the Internet, but during the 1940’s one of the most effective types of propaganda was the use of comic books. Currently comic books are used around the world to spread the message of peace, war, and even religion. For example, in Egypt a comic book is used to spread the word of Islam and what a true Muslim should act like in accordance to Allah. Catholic undertones are used in comic books to spread a message of Christianity to people in an interesting way, with bloody action. In Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War, Superman was used to get out awareness of landmines to the people in affected areas. Comic Books are an effective form of propaganda because they are meant to be interesting, and the superheroes show people how they should be acting during times of strife. Throughout the history of comic books, they have been unifying and brought people together and light to certain messages for people from different countries, cultures, and ethnicities.

The belief that journalism is in decline has triggered major alarms, because society needs an informational environment that is easily available to all citizens such as newspapers. There is a large body of journalist that suggests that if television has taken over from the press as our main source of news this may limit our capacity to learn about public affairs; newspapers are believed to be far more effective than television at conveying detailed information necessary to understand complex and detailed issues. There is also widespread concern that if journalism fails as a profession it will not be able to reach large sections of the community, particularly younger or less educated readers. This may reinforce a growing gap among citizens between the information that they receive.

From an early age I loved to read. At just two years old I would beg my mother to enroll me into school. I watched as my older sister meticulously picked out her outfit each night in preparation for the next school day. At such a young age I somehow knew that this thing called “school” was the answer to something spectacular. My home was chaotic and reading became an escape and helped distract me from the unpleasant family dynamic.