This week's reading, which is about the organization structure of the media, caused me to reflect on one of my favorite types of media. Everyone loves seeing cartoons, and when paired with satire, it makes for a humorous and entertaining play on a serious topic. I am talking about political cartoons, whose subject matter can range from politics to the economy. I have chosen a few political cartoons about the media in particular. In this case, one form of mass media is used to depict an even bigger form of mass media. Chapter 4 mentions the concept of conventions, which are standardized formats of conduct and form in the media industry. In this first cartoon, the artists suggests that media bias is a convention that has been around since the inception of television and radio broadcasting. The artist shows us that there is a bias from CBS, but that it is not talked about.
The chapter also describes the process that many journalists go through in order to obtain a compelling news story and have it printed in the newspaper or broadcast on the evening news. The author mentions that they must sift through several news stories and determine which ones are relevant. The next cartoon is a show of what media professionals have to go through in order to get these compelling stories, often having to jump through hoops to get the story.
I think that political cartoons are a way of poking fun of the things that are left unsaid about society. However, they are a source of news themselves for people who are looking for a twist on the traditional news format. In a sense, these drawings have become a convention through which artists can express their satisfaction or disdain for an issue.
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