The News Could Not Be More Objective!
February 28th, 2022 Barry Posted in Fat Acceptance, Labor rights & Unions, Media criticism, Social Justice | No Comments »
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This cartoon was drawn by the one and only Kevin Moore!
The protest signs in panel 3 weren’t made up by me; I saw them all in photos of sex worker demonstrations. The “fuck the patriarchy but not for free” sign in particular was too great not to use.
TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON
This cartoon has five panels, each of which shows a different scene.
PANEL 1
Three people sit on the ground, warming themselves around a small fire burning in a large tin can. We can see their tento behind them; from their clothes and context, we can infer that they’re homeless. All three of them are watching the screen of a smartphone that the woman in the center is holding. A TV Anchor’s voice comes from the smartphone.
ANCHOR: Welcome to WMSM, where we bring you the objective news!
ANCHOR: Tonight’s stories begin with homelessness! Our reporter spoke with homeowners who say they want fewer tents and trash. No homeless people are interviewed.
PANEL 2
A fat man sits in a coffee shop (we can see the coffee shop’s logo on the window behind him). He’s holding an open laptop in his lap, and watching the screen. The News Anchor talks from the computer.
ANCHOR: A new report on how the obesity crisis is crushing America! We’ll interview a weight loss guru and the author of a new diet book.
ANCHOR: But no fat people, let alone fat acceptance advocates.
PANEL 3
A group of protestors, dressed in warm winter clothing, stands outside of a building, holding up protest signs. The signs say “sex work is work!,” “Outlaw poverty not prostitutes,” “rights not rescue,” “nothing about us without us,” and “fuck the patriarchy but not for free.”
In the foreground, a woman with pink hair and cat eye sunglasses is frowning at her smartphone as she watches something on it. A news anchor’s voice comes from her phone.
ANCHOR: We’ll then have a segment about prostitution, which will quote “rescue” groups and the police—
ANCHOR: But no sex workers or sex worker advocates.
PANEL 4
A waitress in a diner is about to pour coffee into a customer’s mug, but has paused and is giving major side eye to a news anchor on a small TV placed on top of a display case filled with pies. The waitress is wearing an apron over her outfit, and a name tag, and we can see a pen tucked behind her ear. This is the first time in this cartoon we’ve seen the anchor’s face, which is grinning hugely.
ANCHOR: Next, the minimum wage: Does it mean you’ll never work again? To find out, we’ll interview restaurant owners—
ANCHOR: But no workers or union organizers.
PANEL 5
This panel shows the news studio where the anchors – there are two of them, the man we saw on TV in panel 4, and a woman sitting next to him at the news desk – are speaking to a large TV camera. A bored looking cameraman stands behind the camera. Behind the anchors, we can see a backdrop showing a graphic of skyscraper silhouettes, and to the side is the backdrop for a weather report. Both anchors have huge, inane grins, and the female anchor is giving the camera the finger.
MALE ANCHOR: WMSM news — we literally could not be any more objective!
FEMALE ANCHOR: And if anyone says otherwise, you won’t see them here!
