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May 14, 2008 Chinese Students and that Provocative American Cartoonist I'm now in Harbin, in Northern China, as part of a US State Department cultural exchange program that introduces Chinese audiences speakers from the USA. They have never had an American cartoonist participate in the program before; I'm the first one, and I seem to be a provocative choice for the Chinese students. The consulate in Shanghai requested an American editorial cartoonist (and I'm an easy cartoonist to find). I'm meeting with Chinese cartoonists, speaking to university students and seeing the sights. The Chinese don't see American editorial cartoons in their newspapers, we don't see Chinese editorial cartoons in our newspapers and there is a wide cultural divide when it comes to journalism. The students seem to be amazed at the very idea that cartoonists would dare to be disrespectful of their government leaders. I explain to the classes about "censorship" in America, and that the government never censors cartoonists, but that freedom of the press belongs to the guy who owns the press and cartoonists often complain about their editors. I tell them about the AAEC's Golden Spike Award and show them examples of killed cartoons. They seem to be especially interested in this topic. I leave a lot of time for questions and answers with each group I talk to they can be shy, but when they get started they have lots of questions, and I get the same questions wherever I go. Here are some examples of recurring questions and answers: Do your cartoons hurt your personal relationships with the politicians you draw? No, I don't have personal relationships with the people I draw. Do you worry that your drawings will hurt the reputation of someone you have drawn? No, if one of my cartoons hurts the reputation of a politician that I am criticizing, then I am pleased. (Sometimes the crowd murmurs when I say this. It doesn't seem to be what they expect me to say.) Do you ever apologize for your cartoons? Sometimes, but only if I make an error or if the cartoon is misunderstood. Usually the people who are angry about a cartoon are the people I intend to make angry, and I am happy to make them angry. (The crowd murmurs at this answer, too.) Do you ever draw cartoons that are supportive of China? No, I don't draw cartoons that support anything. I just criticize. Supportive cartoons are lousy cartoons. Now that you have visited China, and have learned more about China, will you be drawing cartoons that support China? Probably not. What do you think about the terrible things that Jack Cafferty from CNN said about China? What can be done to make CNN apologize for these remarks? (I try to be polite here.) Most Americans don't know Jack Cafferty and haven't read about his remarks, but most Americans have a negative view of China and would probably agree with Jack Cafferty's remarks. I wouldn't expect CNN to apologize. (The students murmur.) It is interesting that Jack Cafferty is a big issue here; the students all seem to know about the guy and seem personally insulted by him. At every event there is a student with a big smile who asks: Do you see many editorial cartoons in the USA about the Olympics? What are the cartoons like? (I try again to be polite.) Yes there are lots of cartoons about the Olympics, and the cartoons from around the world are almost all negative about China. The State Department people asked me not to show cartoons about China, thinking that the cartoons would be so provocative that their contacts at the universities wouldn't want to work with the US speakers program any more, after a cartoon trauma. The students are eager to see cartoons about China. One student said, "You can show us the cartoons about China, really! We're strong!" I refer the students to my web site to see the cartoons about China, and I tell them what the cartoons are like. The request to refrain from showing cartoons about China is something I had to contemplate, because I like to say whatever I want. It was the only request the State Department people made of me, regarding what I would have to say and show in China. I decided I was OK with it. Now that I have heard from the students, and I can see what a huge cultural divide there is, I think I agree that I make important points by just showing how I draw disrespectful cartoons about American leaders. That is enough to shock these audiences and show how different our attitudes are. The students think that China is misunderstood around the world. They are proud of China, they are all personally very nice, and genuinely expect that the world should love China. At a couple of events students have asked me to list reasons why Americans would not like China; I give them a list of issues and they seem shocked. I think they are not shocked so much by the list of issues as by how this American cartoonist can so misunderstand China. A person from a US consulate here told me a story about one bright young English student who was working for the consulate. He seemed inspired, was interested in everything and he seemed to be well on the road to understanding what America is all about. One day the English student was at a hotel and he watched CNN's coverage of China; he had never seen CNN before. The student was so shocked by what he heard on CNN that he came back to his US Consulate friends and told them that he was inspired by watching the news on CNN, and he had decided that he wanted to work for the Chinese government as a censor, to insure that other Chinese people would never have to hear the terrible things he heard on CNN. The barriers may be so wide that there may be no bridging the gap. But I shouldn't be too negative. I'd like to have seen president Bush handle hurricane Katrina like the Chinese are handling the earthquake here. The Chinese college classes are all very interested, and happy for me to be there. They are eager for me to do drawings and sometimes they rush out and want a photo with me. That's a gregarious college class that I spoke to in the southern city of Guangzhou in the photo below.
May 13, 2008 So Much Drama in China I'm in Shanghai, China now, on a speaking tour sponsored by the US State Department. The purpose of the trip is a cultural exchange, showing an American editorial cartoonist to Chinese audiences. Our idea of what a political cartoonist does is a pretty foreign idea in China. My role is to talk about what I do and show my healthy disrespect for American leaders to the Chinese audiences who are not used to seeing such a thing. I was scheduled to be in Chengdu today, and the earthquake hit just before my plane flight. I'm told the American consulate staff in Chengdu spent the night sleeping on mats outside in the park, and no one there has been getting much sleep. Of-course, the disaster scene is off of my schedule and I'm on my way to the Northern China city of Harbin tomorrow. The news here is all earthquake coverage. Before the earthquake I was impressed with how different the press is here. China's English language newspapers read like a local chamber of commerce newsletter, with cheery stories about official meetings and business reports. Editorials in the papers are dry repetitions of official positions, using phases like, "as we all know" and "any reasonable person would agree that " on topics like religious freedom in Tibet, for example: "as we all know" "any reasonable person would agree that" there should be no more argument about Tibet. China Central Television (CCTV) is the same thing on TV. There are editorials and cartoons about how we should all stop spitting in the street, and how important it is for foreigners to learn to speak Chinese. The news coverage of the hurricane in Myanmar (Burma) was also very interesting here, compared to CNN, which foreigners can see in their hotel rooms, on a tape delay, so that Chinese censors can black out any criticism of China. The newspaper and CCTV coverage I've seen covers the disaster and mentions that aid is being supplied by China and other countries, but mentioned nothing about Myanmar's military junta blocking the aid, which was the top story in the West and among cartoonists on our site. Many web sites are blocked by the powerful internet firewalls in China, including some blogging sites, like blogspot.com and wordpress.com, and bank sites. The internet is slow here, and I'm told it is slow throughout China; but cell phones are pretty cool here, and have features we don't have in the USA. Students ask to see cartoons about China. I explain to the students that there are three symbols for China in American cartoons: the Panda Bear, a Chinese dragon, and the guy standing in front of the tank from the Tiananmen Square "incident." The audience gasps when I mention the third symbol. Many of the students here have never heard of the Tiananmen Square massacre, or "incident" as they call it here, and most of them seem unaware of the famous photo. I explain that this is probably the most famous photo of China around the world as they stare and don't seem to comprehend. It is amazing to see the contrast between the lack of press freedom here and the incredible economic freedom that is driving the business boom here. Skyscrapers and new construction are everywhere. Thanks to those of you who pointed out that my cartoons haven't been updating, and that my blog hasn't been as active as it should be. I'll do better. I'll have much more to write about China and the students and cartoonists I've met here soon. May 12, 2008 Cagle in China I've been away from the drawing board for a week on a long trip to China where I've been meeting with college audiences and local cartoonists. Right now I'm in Shanghai, and I'm scheduled to fly to Chengdu in Szechuan province tomorrow the site of the big earthquake, which we felt here in faraway Shanghai. People felt the quake here on the higher floors of the tall buildings, and big crowds filed out onto the streets around the buildings, giving the city a strange, crowded sense of urgency, even though the quake here was hardly noticeable. I may be stuck in Shanghai for a few days.
I'll find out tomorrow when we get more news from Szechaun province.
A cartoonist visit isn't very important with all the terrible
earthquake news. I'll post more on the trip, the cartoonists
I've met and the colleges when I get a chance. Another Cartoonist Lost I'm sad to report that Paul Combs is retiring from editorial cartooning.
Paul did some great work and had a burst of notoriety when we
won the job at the Tampa Tribune. Paul chose to leave the job
in Tampa because his family preferred living in their old home
in Ohio. The Tribune, which had Wayne Stayskal as their long time cartoonist
before Paul, announed a big search for a new cartoonist and interviewed
many contenders, but hasn't hired a new cartoonist and now isn't
expected to.
Paul's last cartoon will be dated May 2nd. Here's a sample of Paul's work below. Click here to see Paul's archive. E-mail Paul a fond goodbye here.
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