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News Syndicate

Turkish Cartoon Crackdown, Again and Again, and Now Worse

Most Americans don’t follow the news from Turkey, especially with our election looming next week. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has been cracking down on opposition throughout Turkey in the wake of a failed coup attempt a few months back, with tens of thousands of alleged coup collaborators either jailed or fired from their jobs.musacartoon It seems that a failed coup is also a great excuse to get rid everyone Erdogan already didn’t like who weren’t involved with the coup as Erdogan has closed down virtually all of the media outlets that have been critical of him. The only opposition newspaper left, Cumhuriyet, was raided last week with their editors, their top writers and their editorial cartoonist thrown in jail.

To see that Erdogan’s purge extends well beyond those who were involved in the coup, look no farther then Musa Kart, the jailed editorial cartoonist for Cumhuriyet, who’s cartoons have enraged Erdogan for many years. Here’s an article from Cartoonists Rights Network (CRNI) about how Erdogan tried to put Musa in jail for nine years for the 2014 cartoon at the right that depicts corruption as a hologram of Erdogan looks away; the courts dismissed the case. Here’s an article from the Committee to Protect Journalists with a broader update on Erdogan’s recent press purges.

kartcat60Musa’s 2005 cartoon of Erdogan as a cat tangled in strings produced a similar battle with an offended Erdogan, who clearly has a thin skin when it comes to cartoons. Musa was sentenced to prison, his penalty was reduced to a fine, and the courts later dismissed the fine.

Cartoonists around the world have drawn cartoons supporting Musa when he was arrested before and a new pitch for cartoons is coming from my buddies at Cartooning for Peace (CFP). I’ve posted the column from CFP below along with one of the cartoons supporting Musa from India’s Paresh Nath.


Turkish cartoonist Musa Kart detained by police along with journalists from opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet
From Cartooning for Peace

On Monday 31th October several members of staff from the opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet have been detained by police following raids on their homes. These include editor in chief Murat Sabuncu, the paper’s lawyer and cartoonist Musa Kart.

His home was searched by police around 5am before he went to the police station for questioning, apparently with his lawyer. Musa is no stranger to harassment from the regime. In 2014, following the publication of one cartoon refering to a money laundering scandal involving many people close to Erdogan, cartoonist Musa Kart was facing a 9 years imprisonment. He was finally acquitted of the charges. As he left the building to surrender to police, Kart told reporters:

“How will they explain this to the world? I am being taken into custody for drawing cartoons.”

“I’ve been trying for years to turn what we’re living through in this country into cartoons. Now I feel like I’m living in one.”

On Tuesday 1st November hundreds of protestors camped overnight in protest at the Istanbul headquarters of Cumhuriyet – last symbol of the fight for freedom of speech in Turkey.

A statement from the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said those detained were suspected of “committing crimes” on behalf of the Gülen movement, accused by the government of masterminding the coup attempt in July.

The Turkish government has embarked upon a “purge without limits” according to Christophe Deloire, secretary-general of Reporters Without Borders:

“Cumhuriyet is once again the target of persecution, another 15 media have been closed and there is hardly anyone left to cover this. (…) If Turkey does not stop using the state of emergency to kill off media freedom it will soon be too late. At this rate, media pluralism will be a distant memory before long. Are people sufficiently aware of the dramatic change taking place in this country, where no media outlet seems to be safe from this never-ending purge?”

This marks a new chapter in media and press persecution by the Turkish state. 170 media outlets had been shut down since the attempted coup and 105 journalists arrested. Authorities revoked the press accreditation of more than 700 journalists while thousands of journalists are unemployed.

Cartooning for Peace is starting a campaign to support cartoonists, journalists and freedom of speech in Turkey.

Cartoonists from all over the world, including members of Cartooning for Peace, are already sharing their drawings. See more of the cartoons in support of Musa here.

paresh-kart

This one is by our own Paresh Nath of India. See more of Paresh’s cartoons here.

 

 

 

 

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Blog Syndicate

Off the Record TRUMP DISASTER and Cavemen Cartoonists

Today’s cartoon isn’t really an exaggeration – this is what “on-the-record” and “off-the-record” interviews with GOP politicians are really like these days. Sometimes a cartoon is nothing but a slice of life.

I’m setting up my studio again in Los Angeles after my move back from Nashville and I’ll hopefully be drawing more cartoons! This is the first one I’ve live-streamed from my new setup. There are too many things to remember with the streaming; with this one, I forgot the little sandpaper that I like to have on the side as I draw, to make the chisel points on my pencils – so I went outside and grabbed a couple of rocks. I can draw with rocks instead of sandpaper, just like the caveman editorial cartoonists used to do, back in the days of newspapers and dinosaurs as I saw depicted on my recent visit to the Creation Museum in Kentucky, where they recently opened a $100 million full size replica of Noah’s Ark, funded by taxpayers. The project is supported by $60 million in tax-free municipal bonds and ongoing tax support from a sales tax rebate and a tax on wages of all the employees who work for businesses in the Ark’s tax district, along with an $18 million tax rebate from the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority. Here’s a nice article about it.

Gotta love Kentucky. The video below shows me drawing the “Off the Record” cartoon, rocks and all.  Thank God.

In the next video I color the cartoon, like a modern cartoonist on my Wacom Cintiq.

 

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Blog Syndicate

I Drew a PRO-Trump Cartoon

We get complaints from readers because we don’t post pro-Trump cartoons. We don’t post pro-Hillary cartoons either. We just don’t get any pro-Trump and pro-Hillary cartoons. Cartoons in favor of something are lousy cartoons. Editorial cartooning is a negative art form.

That said, today I drew a PRO-Trump cartoon! It strikes me that the accusations about Trump University are no different than the accusations against hundreds of for-profit colleges – especially art colleges that accept any talentless applicants who will pay, even though they know the students won’t be making livings as artists. Reputable institutions drive students into a lifetime of debt as  students often graduate with no marketable skills. I don’t see Trump University as any worse than the rest.

I’m sorry that it is so wordy! I’ll be more terse next time. Watch me draw this one in the video below!

Watch me color the cartoon in the next video …

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Blog

Today’s E-mail Interview with a Turkish Newspaper

When I take the time to write responses to a questions from reporters, I think I’ll post them here. This one is from a Turkish newspaper today.

Hi Daryl,

Thanks so much. Here’s a few questions. I’m really interested in your views and opinions:

Do you think Le Monde cartoonist (Jean Plantureux) purposely left out Turkey – from his recent image?

Do you think cartoonists must ensure that symbols like flags are correctly interpreted?
 
Do you think Twitter and Facebook followers really understand why they are changing their Facebook profiles to various flags etc.

Besides Turkey, Paris and Belgium – there’s been attacks this past year in Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Chad,  Tunisia, Egypt, etc – across the globe. Do you think there are double standards when it come to Western media response to such attacks?

Many thanks


DPlantu france belgiumear …,

Do you think Le Monde cartoonist (Jean Plantureux) purposely left out Turkey – from his recent image?

I think Plantu draws exactly what he means to draw.

Do you think cartoonists must ensure that symbols like flags are correctly interpreted?

 

France Belgium Turkey flag cartoonCartoonists want readers to correctly understand their cartoons. Cartoons that are misunderstood are ineffective cartoons. Cartoonists are in the business of communicating their ideas. There is nothing we can do to insure that readers correctly interpret our cartoons, except to strive to draw good cartoons. I don’t think of “flags” as something to interpret, except that I generally understand that American readers don’t recognize the flags of other countries. Worldwide cartoonists typically use flags to represent countries more often than American cartoonists

Do you think Twitter and Facebook followers really understand why they are changing their Facebook profiles to various flags etc. 

I’m aware of the French flags in the profile pictures on Facebook in response to the attacks in France; the Facebook users intended to make an expression of solidarity with the French in response to the terror attacks. I haven’t followed other instances of flags in Facebook profile pictures.

Besides Turkey, Paris and Belgium – there’s been attacks this past year in Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Chad,  Tunisia, Egypt, etc. – across the globe. Do you think there are double standards when it come to Western media response to such attacks? 

Terror attacks in countries that have frequent terror attacks are not as newsworthy as attacks in countries where these events are a new trend. I suppose this can be argued to be a double standard in the respect that human life should have the same value everywhere.

President Obama reportedly argues that deaths from “slipping in bathtubs” accounts for more lives lost than terrorism. Surely more people die from bathtub falls in China than anywhere else, simply because there are more people in China; by that measure, the news should always be dominated by bathtub deaths in China rather than terrorism. It is the role of editors to decide what news is most important; I don’t consider these editorial decisions to be a “double standard.” I’m more interested in news on the Brussels attacks than I am in news about still more carnage in Chad.

I don’t know the origin of the altered Plantu cartoon that you sent to me, including the Turkish flag character. I’m guessing it wasn’t drawn by Plantu, but rather by a copyright-infringing reader who wanted to make a different point, that Turkey has suffered more terrorist attacks than France and Belgium.

Please send me a copy when you come out with your article.
Best,

Daryl

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Blog Syndicate

Zits and ISIS-ISIL-Daesh

It is pretty common for editorial cartoonists to draw parody cartoons with the Peanuts characters. Lucy pulling away the football is a political cartooning standard. I wonder why it is always Peanuts, and not other strips that find their way into editorial cartoons – so, here’s my Zits-ISIS-ISIL-Dash-Zits cartoon.

I’m a big Zits fan.  I have two Zits originals, that I bought at charity events, hanging on the wall in my house.  Borgman and Scott are brilliant, although I don’t think they’d ever draw Jeremy joining ISIS, so … sorry about that. Kids and ISIS – always a surprise, huh?

I’m headed off to Ukraine next week and I won’t be drawing cartoons for a while. Hold your breath until I get back!

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Cartoons

ISIS Zits Parody

ISIS Zits Parody © Daryl Cagle,CagleCartoons.com,Zits,newspaper,sunday strip,comic strip,Jerry Scott Jim Borgman,ISIS,ISIL,Daesh,Middle East,Islam,Islamic Extremist,Syria,Iraq,Libya,terrorist,homegrown terrorist,Jeremy

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Cartoons

Scott Walker Interview

Scott Walker Interview © Daryl Cagle,CagleCartoons.com,Scott Walker, Wisconsin, Governor, presidential, campaign, president, media, press, newspaper, interview, evolution, theory, gay, homosexual, Barack Obama, Christian, religion, conservative, Rep

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Cartoons

Scott Walker Interview

Scott Walker Interview © Daryl Cagle,CagleCartoons.com,Scott Walker, Wisconsin, Governor, presidential, campaign, president, media, press, newspaper, interview, evolution, theory, gay, homosexual, Barack Obama, Christian, religion, conservative, Republican

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Cartoons

John Edwards Doggie Ridiculous

John Edwards Doggie Ridiculous © Daryl Cagle,MSNBC.com,John Edwards,Rielle Hunter,dog,newspaper,urine,pee,jail,prison,court

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Blog

Larry Wright Retires from Editorial Cartooning

I’m saddened to write that Larry Wright, who has worked as an editorial cartoonist for the Detroit News for decades, is retiring at the end of this month. We syndicate Larry’s cartoons to more than 800 newspapers.  Larry was one of the first cartoonists to join us when we launched our syndicate nearly ten years ago.  Larry writes:

It is difficult for me to accept an end to editorial cartooning — I started doing it in my first newspaper job in 1961. I have been retired from the Detroit News since April 2006 but they kept me on for 3 free-lance cartoons a week till the economy crash in 2008 had them cut me to 2 a week. As things got worse they cut me down to one a week a few months ago and are cutting me off the end of the year.

It’s not like I’m facing poverty. I have a full pension from Gannett and I just signed a new three-year contract for Kit ‘n’ Carlyle, a daily panel I’ve been doing for United Media since 1980.

Although we will miss him, Larry will be keeping busy.

The Detroit News still has me doing regular free-lance editing and photography of collector car shows on the Detroit News website. It’s called Joyrides and has had a big audience since the late 1990s. I also get to show off my Corvette convertible at these shows.

See an archive of Larry’s editorial cartoons here; he is well known for his conservative views and for cartoons about health care, the automobile industry and Detroit sports.  A few of Larry’s recent cartoons are below.  We miss him already!