Cartoonists on the front line

Mon, Jul 24, 2006

Matthew over on Bugpowder has news of an interesting programme on BBC TV this evening, with former MP-turned-broadcast-political-pundit Michael Portillo interviewing the great Steve Bell, cartoonist for the Guardian to discuss his political caricatures. The description on the Beeb’s site refers to those pictures as ‘cruel’, but I don’t think I agree with that.

Yes, I am sure they may indeed pain some of our political masters, but apart from the fact that someone in public office is setting themselves up on the shooting range of political satire, the political cartoonist (and Bell is one of the finest contemporaries of that niche I think) doesn’t draw just to hurl a cruel jibe at tender feelings (assuming senior politicians have feelings of course). No, they do so because in a democratic society it is a part of the Fourth Estate’s duty to hold up public figures to scrutiny (and ridicule if they deserve it).

Using cartoons to attack political figures and hold them to account to their public for the actions they take (on that public’s behalf) is one of the oldest forms of political satire we have. It predates even full democracy, with satirical cartoons which dared to lampoon even overweight monarchs appearing in journals such as Punch well before universal suffrage, which makes it an essential tool to remind leaders of their accountability to the country. In this modern, incredibly media-image sensitive day this becomes more critical for politicians and parties, which makes the job of the political cartoonist more important.

Reading Steve Bell or Gary Trudeau is a way of cutting through reams of press analysis to the essence of events, summing them up with a few deft lines of dark ink. They are a mark of a free and democratic society where freedom of expression is the norm. They are a check on political powers and a reminder of responsibilities. And best of all they are often damned funny.