Political Cartoonists versus Readers: Role of political cartoonists in Building Public Opinion and Readers' Expectations towards Print Media Cartoons in Pakistan

Abstract

This study is an effort to explore the role of political cartoons in opinion building and the expectations of the readers towards the political print media cartoons in Pakistan. It further aims to know the perceptions of the cartoonists while portraying the issues and events by using artistic, satirical and unique medium of visual communication. It is a dual study that not only focuses upon the intentions of the cartoonists but also deals with the views of the readers and their expectations towards the medium. The researchers used in-depth interview method to conduct the interviews of the two famous cartoonists of Pakistan Javed Iqbal and Maxim, who make cartoons in the major newspapers Jang and Nawa-i-

Protecting ‘Sacred Cows’: A Comparative Study of the Factors Influencing Political Cartoonists

“…They help an audience to laugh and feel relaxed, but the audience does not simply absorb the satirical message hidden in the political cartoon. Rather, the audience uses its ideologies and beliefs to decode and interpret the message (Ashfaq & Hussein, 2013).…”

“…A review of the literature shows that political cartoonists' perceptions have not been previously studied. Previous studies were content analyses of political cartoons about events such as wars and presidential campaigns (Ashfaq & Hussein, 2013;Conners, 2007Conners, , 1998Diamond, 2002;Gilmartin, 2001;Koetzle & Brunell, 1996;Muller & Ozcan, 2007;Saeed, 2003). Therefore, this is a unique addition to the discipline of political cartooning.…”