From Slate's Daryl Cagle. He's their cartoonist. This was in their dailynewsletter.
Le Monde recently printed an article about how our political cartoonists are being pressured by the Bush Administration to support the war on Iraq. (Nice quality piece of research on their part, since I'd say at least 50-60% of the toons I see on the subject from American artists are anti-war and anti-Bush.)
It's not like Le Monde is known for being a neutral, objective paper tho. Jon
Oh! Those Those French People are Making Me REALLY MAD NOW!
FRANCE by Daryl Cagle
You probably know how I feel about French attitudes lately. A reporter from the big Paris newspaper, "Le Monde," called me and asked me to tell her about how American cartoonists are pressured by our government to support a war with Iraq. The very idea is absurd, and I told her so.
But I wasn't too surprised to see an article in Le Monde on Monday, telling French readers how American cartoonists are pressured to support a prospective war. Readers of our site know that most editorial cartoonist are liberal leaning and oppose a war on Iraq. The French like to think that the American press is bullied by the Bush administration, because all reasonable people should, naturally, agree with the French.
Click here to respond to Le Monde's editor --come on, readers -- tell him what you think about Le Monde's preconceived notions about the American press.
Click here to see this lousy article (sorry -it is in French).
And click here to see our collection of cartoons about the French.
Want to comment? Visit our comment board here.
Arrrgh! Those Frenchmen make me so mad that I want to blast Iraq! Here is my letter to the editor of Le Monde:
Dear Editor, Le Monde,
I was troubled to read your article, "Les Illustrateurs Am�ricains Pris dans la Guerre des Images" from Monday's edition of Le Monde. The idea that American editorial cartoonists are under pressure by their government to support a prospective war with Iraq is absurd. Your article uses quotes out of context to support an impression of our profession that is completely wrong.
Almost all of the cartoonists in America draw whatever point of view they want, and are not pressured to support a prospective war with Iraq. Although any cartoonist can be censored by his editor, certainly no newspaper cartoonist here is censored by the government.
The quote that you found from cartoonist, Steve Benson, addressed the events of 9/11, not the prospective war with Iraq, as is implied in the context of your article. Steve has complained that there was a period of national grief after 9/11, before editors felt it was appropriate for cartoonists to get back to their usual jokes and jabs. I doubt that you can find a cartoonist whose cartoons are more critical of the Bush administration than Steve Benson's.
You cite Presidential Press Secretary, Ari Fleisher, denouncing a cartoon by cartoonist, Mike Marland, but did not mention that Marland's cartoon depicted a plane about to strike the World Trade Center as a metaphor to criticize the Bush administration's Social Security policy. This cartoon had nothing to do with a prospective war on Iraq and was criticized because it seemed in poor taste, at the time, to use this image to joke about the deaths at the twin towers.
Marland is not syndicated, he works for a small newspaper and the supposedly offensive use of the World Trade Center as a metaphor, in cartoons about unrelated issues, has been repeated countless times by syndicated cartoonists with much larger audiences --with no outcry from their editors or readers. You can see many examples on my web site: www.cagle.slate.msn.com
A majority of editorial cartoonists in America draw cartoons opposing or criticizing a prospective war in Iraq, while 60% of the American public favors going to war -but that fact contradicts with Le Monde's vision of a warmongering American press.
American cartoonists enjoy press freedom and a lively, unfettered public debate. Our cartoons really do represent our opinions, without pressure from the government.
Truly, Daryl Cagle Editorial Cartoonist for Slate.com
We have a great new resource for readers to search for cartoons that are available to reprint in your publications -even you tiny neighborhood newsletter -for a tiny price. Come check it out at Caglecartoons.com
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