Monday 9:20pm; repeated Wednesday morning 12:25am watch on iView
The power of cartoons
Leunig and Good Taste
Michael Leunig promotes his social vision through a subtle combination of words and lines.
Ten days ago, in the midst of speculation that Prime Minister Howard might retire this year, he submitted this cartoon to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
View a copy of this cartoon.
The cartoon continues in that vein - a whimsical meditation on how a Prime Minister can't "step down" from such a lowly position.
It's not an unusual piece for Michael Leunig except for one thing - The Sydney Morning Herald refused to publish it.
Instead they ran this less political whimsy, which the Herald tagged a "Vintage Michael Leunig".
Ten days ago, in the midst of speculation that Prime Minister Howard might retire this year, he submitted this cartoon to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
It is widely accepted that the rank of Prime Minister is the lowest position in the land.
That’s because the Prime Ministership falls to the person most willing to appeal to the lowest appetites of the population in order to win the largest number of votes.
It’s widely understood that only a person of very low character would do such a thing.
— Cartoon submitted by Michael Leunig to The Sydney Morning Herald
View a copy of this cartoon.
The cartoon continues in that vein - a whimsical meditation on how a Prime Minister can't "step down" from such a lowly position.
It's not an unusual piece for Michael Leunig except for one thing - The Sydney Morning Herald refused to publish it.
Instead they ran this less political whimsy, which the Herald tagged a "Vintage Michael Leunig".
View a copy of this cartoon.
The Melbourne Age ran the cartoon so Leunig - who's a Victorian - was unaware that the Herald had refused it, until we called him last Tuesday.
Leunig contacted Herald editor Alan Oakley to ask him why it was dropped.
And Mr Oakley replied -
Michael,
Apologies for not contacting you on Friday...
Yes, I did pull the cartoon on the grounds of taste. Regardless of the subject (ie the PM), I found the whole idea somewhat coarse. I think SMH readers expect something a little more sophisticated, if not subtle.
Regards,
Alan
— Email from Alan Oakley to Michael Leunig
Michael Leunig disagreed and took up the argument with his editor.
I maintain that there was a valid and complex philosophical idea being illuminated – about the nature of democracy, populism and power… I think it was a very special, feisty and effective cartoon – they're the ones that often cause editors to lose their nerve… May I finish by quoting a former Age editor, "A cartoon in good taste is a contradiction in terms".
— Email from Michael Leunig to Alan Oakley
It's not hard to find plenty of examples that prove Leunig's point about taste and cartoons.
A few years back the Herald published this Alan Moir that shows the Prime Minister as a dog, rutting vigorously on the Queen's leg.
Earlier this year The Australian's Bill Leak drew what he thought the Indonesian President was doing to the people of West Papua.
And later, when Australia and Indonesia patched up their differences, the paper published this representation of the President and our own PM.
Did the earth move for you?
Not the earth, just Australia.
— Bill Leak cartoon
Back in 2002 this Bill Leak, which called Prime Minister Howard a brown noser, won him the Walkley Award for best cartoon.
Which all makes it hard to understand what put Leunig's milder comments out of bounds.
Alan Oakley wouldn't tell us any more about his reasons.
From time to time, editors decide not to publish cartoons, and other material, on the grounds of taste.
This was one of those occasions. I do not discuss externally the specific reasons behind such decisions, suffice to say it's called editing.
— Alan Oakley to Media Watch
Read Media Watch's questions to Alan Oakley.
Read Alan Oakley's response to the questions from Media Watch.
We've no problem with Mr Oakley's right to edit the paper - we're just concerned that he got it wrong.
And Leunig responded this weekend with his own piece on whether cartoons should be "nice" - or true.
View a copy of this cartoon.
You can make up your own mind. Leunig's censored cartoon is on our website.
No comments:
Post a Comment