In defence of the political cartoonists’ licence
to mock
Haydon Manning, Flinders
University
Robert Phiddian, Flinders University
ABSTRACT
In a previous issue of The Drawing
Board: An Australian Review of Public Affairs, Michael Hogan
discussed the role of political cartooning in Australia.
Hogan argued that we ought to be concerned about how cartoons erode
public confidence in politicians, parties, and democratic institutions.
He sought to provoke debate on the role and value of cartooning in
political debate in Australia,
and we have taken up his invitation. We are more inclined than Hogan
to support the licence of cartoonists to mock public figures and
institutions freely. We base our view on: (1) an analysis of political
cartooning as an established and understood element of free speech
in Australia; (2) a provisional taxonomy of the types of political
cartoon, judged by the effects they are liable to have on readers;
and (3) some empirically based scepticism about the capacity of cartoons
to directly influence public opinion. We conclude that cartoons make
a valuable contribution to public debate that is distinct from journalism
and written commentary, and that cartoonists should not be formally
or informally encouraged to restrain their satirical instincts in
the interests of balance or for fear of engendering public cynicism.
Haydon Manning <Haydon.Manning@flinders.edu.au> is
a senior lecturer in the School of Political and International Studies
at Flinders University, where he teaches and researches Australian
electoral politics and environmental politics. Robert Phiddian <Robert.Phiddian@flinders.edu.au> is
a senior lecturer in the Department of English at Flinders University,
where he teaches and researches political satire. Both contribute
an analysis of editorial cartoons to collections dealing with each
federal election (edited by John Warhurst and Marian Simms). Robert
is currently working on a biography of Bruce Petty; Haydon is working
on sexism in political cartooning.
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