In mid-August, American cartoonist Daryl Cagle presented a video conference on for editorial cartoonists and journalists based in Lahore, Pakistan. Cagle discussed the impact of political cartoons in the US, and the lack of restrictions on the ideas that American…
Category: International
Ukraine’s National Expert Commission for Protecting Public Morality Sets Its Sight on SpongeBob
Are SpongeBob SquarePants, Walt Disney, the Teletubbies, Shrek, and the town of South Park, Colorado, banding together to corrupt the youth of the Ukraine? That’s what Ukraine’s National Expert Commission for Protecting Public Morality is now investigating. According to the…
South African Scuffle Over Controversial Portrait Spurs Debate, Censorship
How far should newspaper editorial go to protect their free speech in the face of business-crippling boycott? What dangerous precedents are set by self-censorship? Ferial Haffajee, editor of the South African City Press, faced these concerns at their most difficult…
Media in Myanmar Opposes New Press Council
Last Friday, after widespread criticism of delays in eliminating its censorship board, the government of Myanmar announced that it was forming an interim council to regulate the press until the new media law is enacted. The 20-member council is comprised…
Egyptian Humor Fuels Revolution
As the Arab Spring blossomed in Egypt early last year, people around the world quickly noticed something about the protesters and their signs: they were often funny. But as Satenik Harutyunyan outlines in a recent article for the University of…
Men Arrested in India for E-Mailing Cartoon
When Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra e-mailed a cartoon mocking an Indian politician to friends, he probably didn’t expect to be arrested by local police in a midnight raid. Appallingly, Mahapatra and neighbor Subrata Sengupta were arrested in such a…
Censors in Myanmar Suspend Two Weekly News Journals
Last week, two weekly publications in Myanmar (Burma), The Voice Weekly and Envoy, were suspended indefinitely for violations of the country’s regulations on news media. The suspensions came as new media laws are drafted that officials claim will lift past…
Comic Spring in the Arab World
Comic artists and cartoonists in Arab nations and much of the Middle East have been cultivating a new era of cultural, social, and political importance of the media. These artists have been defiant, often risking their lives in the face…
Political Cartoonist Zunar Scores Partial Victory in Malaysian Court
Last week, a Malaysian civil court ruled that the arrest of political cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaqur, also known as Zunar, was lawful but that the seizure of his 66 books and paintings was not. This decision is the latest in…
Syrian Cartoonist Ferzat Featured in Amsterdam Exhibit
Almost a year ago, when Syrian political cartoonist Ali Ferzat was abducted and had his hands broken by men likely connected to authoritarian president Bashar Assad’s government, the message was clear: stop drawing. But Ferzat defied the warning and, in…