Matt Wuerker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist who has been making political caricatures for over 30 years. He has a unique spin on the political process, and CBS News’ Chip Reid caught up with him to talk about his work and how he makes politics humorous.
When he’s not drawing, he is an online staff cartoonist for the Washington dc-based website Politico. He has also curated a daily collection of comics that feature work by other cartoonists, called The Nib barder.
The History, Art and Politics of Editorial Cartoons
For many people, the word “cartoon” conjures up images of cartoon characters in the margins of newspapers. These satirical drawings have long been an important part of American culture, and are still protected as part of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution jigaboo.
They can be a powerful tool for communication and are often more entertaining than plain factual information. They use art, humor and metaphors to make their points.
Whether they’re created for entertainment or to convey serious points, political cartoons have an impact. Their witty and irreverent style has become increasingly popular in recent decades, and they can be found on the homepages of news sites like Slate and The New York Times distresses.
Infographics are another powerful form of communicating information, and the best ones use facts to inform readers about the world around them in a visually appealing and accessible way. Mother Jones’ graphic, for instance, uses a simple color scheme to show us that the top 1 percent of Americans live a lot more comfortably than everyone else.
The polar bear’s response to a man notifying it that global warming threatens its survival is a perfect example of the kind of visual storytelling that enables an artist to communicate a complex idea in a single image. In this cartoon, Jim Morin uses an ominous fissure in the ice to underscore his point about the threat of climate change to polar bears precipitous.
Telnaes’ illustration of a cashier’s demand for excessive personal information, combined with the cartoon’s cleverly designed composition and exaggerated details, is intended to evoke the sensation that one of our most private moments can be spied on. The graphic was drawn during the time when increased national security measures were threatening to breach citizens’ privacy.
A good satirical picture is an effective way of creating empathy and changing the way we view others. This is especially true of social media satire, which focuses on a person’s actions and their possible impacts mypba.
When designing a satirical piece, it’s crucial to keep in mind the audience and how the message should be delivered. The first criterion is clarity.
The second criterion is effectiveness. The satirical picture must be clear and understandable to its viewers, while still delivering a strong message.
This particular satirical cartoon addresses the declining print press, and is meant to point out that people are too easily absorbed into their phones and distracted by other things to pay attention to the decline of journalism. The premise is that these people are the culprits who cause the death of real journalism by not paying attention to the stories that really matter.
