Column | A ‘no’ can initiate something against censorship

Freedom of expression stared at me when one of my children’s books was translated into Chinese a few years ago. There would be a number of passages about gender, or that was an objection? I agreed, albeit with an uncomfortable feeling. But: without translation no distribution of the rest of the book and no payment.

Of course my decision was limp. Suppose it would now be an American edition. They would like to scrap the progressive (‘woke’) passages. Then I would turn against the censorship, instead of exoting or trivializing it, such as at the time at China (‘That is what everything goes differently, the majority of the book Stay intact’). My no will not change world history, but a no can initiate something.

Such as the ‘no’ by cartoonist Ann Telnaes. She said her many years of collaboration with The Washington Post On, after an opinion editor had refused a cartoon. On the rough sketch you can see how Jeff Bezos (owner of The Washingon Post), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook and Meta) and Sam Altman (OpenAi) kneel for a statue of Trump. Telnaes’ no against censorship became world news, and the symbol for the loss of freedom of the press and expression in America.

Last Monday, Telnaes was in The Hague to give the annual freedom of the press, in the run -up to 3 May, the International Day of Freedom. An excellent choice, because cartoonists are the barometer of freedom of the press. Telnaes said that she regards it from the opinion editor as the ‘obeying’: drafting you in advance to the ruler to secure your own skin. Whether she took legal action? « No, cartoonists have no money, we can’t afford lawyers. »

Cartoonists are the barometer of freedom of the press

Her casual comment releases a laughing salvo among the audience, predominantly fellow cartoonists. When I ask a few of them later, they endorse that vulnerable financial position. You can get excited about the state of a country with increasing censorship, worry about democratic and visual illiteracy, which means that the importance of political cartoons and satire is not recognized, but there is a much greater threat to political artists: the deplorable economic situation. There are hardly any fixed positions, the number of cartoonists employed in America alone in 2023 2000 to less than 20.

Since her cancellation, Telnaes has chose to move her publications to the Substack platform, where you can take out a paid subscription. She has 92,000 members, of whom 5500 pay: 8 dollars a month, or $ 215 a year as a ‘founding member’, 10 percent of them go to substit.

That sounds lucrative, but something like that only works if you already have a lot of fame, such as multiple Pulitzer Prize winner Telnaes, who, incidentally, generously donates to Cartoons Rights organizations. A cartoonist jokes that of his 21 subscribers pay three (girlfriend, mother and mother -in -law). Another points me to disadvantages: because clients offer no certainty, you traffic in a continuous dependency and competitive position. As a creative person you are forced to independent entrepreneurship, always at work. He often goes along with a group of drawings where international newspapers choose something, so a permanent competition with colleagues. And then you keep paying attention to whether they will publish you so that you do not miss out on the little money. It makes, as professor of media studies Mark Deuze recently demonstrated in his book Well-Being and Creative Careers-What makes you happy can also make you sickpeople from the creative sector extra sensitive to forms of exhaustion and exploitation.

It also misunderstands the importance and role of political drawings for vital democracy. So there is an important role for the press who, as guardians of freedom of expression and expression. See cartoons as an important signature from the newspaper, cherish your draftsmen, pay them properly. In the meantime, as an individual you have to stay strong, next time say no to censorship. As George Orwell said: « Don’t let it happen, it deepends on you. »

After the freedom of the press, a cartoonist pushes me another book, format Miffy. Hot Trumps ABC And was made in 2016 by Ann Telnaes, during Trump’s first term. An ABC booklet in rhyme. « A is for Americans Who elected this guy … ”sharp satire, great Drawings. Courage, brave, bravest. Telnaes shows that you can come into resistance. How? By ahead of onobey.

Stine Jensen is a philosopher and writer. She writes a column at this place every other week.

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