part of a political cartoonist's job is to cause offence

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Jason Chatfield on Twitter: "Cartoonist Michael DeAdder was just fired from the newspaper for this cartoon.… "

Here is comment from “The Best Cartoon Website around the Globe”:

Canadian cartoonist Michael de Adder has had his freelance contract with a publishing company cancelled due, he believes, to his depiction of Donald Trump attempting to “play through” on a golf course despite the drowned bodies of migrants Oscar Alberto Martinez and Angie Valeria lying in his path. The company, Brunswick News Inc, deny the sacking was in any way connected to the Trump cartoon, and I have no evidence to suggest otherwise. Yet there is certainly a wider narrative, and seemingly a growing trend, for cartoonists losing their jobs – or worse – for the crime of having caused offence.

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time a cartoonist has been warned off drawing something that his editor thinks might displease “The Donald”. In this country, politicians – if they were smart – used to ask to buy the original of any particularly hurtful cartoon, thus both drawing the sting and irritating the cartoonist immensely. This seems to have become rarer in recent years, though whether that says more about modern cartoons or modern politicians I’ll let you decide.

Autocratic regimes are an altogether different kettle of fascists. David Low’s wartime cartoons earned him a place on the Nazis’ “death list”.

Michael de Adder losing his job! - Irancartoon




David Low (cartoonist) - Wikipedia
10 Anti-Nazi David Low Cartoons | History Hit

On the other hand, 'satire' is not about defending the powerful or attacking the weak:

Part of a political cartoonist's job is to cause offence

Cartoonists like me work at the margins of what is acceptable: a cartoon needs to unsettle and discomfort the reader a little if it is to penetrate its target

Dave Brown @davebrowntoons
Tuesday 2 July 2019

Recently there have been a number of cases where a defence of satire has been used to excuse racist or misogynist remarks, whereas I believe a good creed for the satirist is that they should “afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted”.

Cartoonist Michael de Adder lost work after drawing an offensive image of Donald Trump – but that’s his job | The Independent

Here is the Independent newspaper's cartoonist again - where he defends a cartoon from another paper, which some found offensive:

Offended by the Daily Mail's cartoon of refugees and rats? Fine – but you don’t have a right to censor it | The Independent

This Daily Mail Anti-Refugee Cartoon Is Straight Out Of Nazi Germany | HuffPost

Here's another cartoonist from last year - which shows cartoons as satire:

Political cartoonists are divided: Is it ok to ditch their paper and go digital?
Satire - from The i Newspaper online | inews.co.uk

For more examples:

Jay Doubleyou: a history of dissent and satire

With a couple of videos here:

Jay Doubleyou: fight club and anti-consumerism
Jay Doubleyou: foucault's discipline and punish made easier
Jay Doubleyou: what is a 'native speaker' of english? the issue of race...

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