Monday, May 9, 2011

Editorial Cartoons

The first two cartoons stand in sharp contrast to one another.

1ce3758e98.jpg
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/herblock/crook.html

The first is that of President Nixon.  Here the focus is on his crime in wiretapping his executive office and the greed that accompanied it.  The cartoon and message is very stylized.

clinton-cartoon.jpg
http://thesituationist.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/clinton-cartoon.jpg

In this cartoon portraying President Bill Clinton during the Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal,  the focus is on his private matters.  The slapstick comedy that accompanies this is strikingly different in style than the "I'm not a crook" cartoon of Nixon. 


Together, these two present evidence of the evolution of the media's use of comedy and political opinion to influence the public.