MERI Mirror, April' 2020

The power of newspaper cartoons
during a public health crisis
-By Divyanshi
One glimpse at the cartoon on newspaper
published in newspapers and one
can instantly know about the issue
depicted by cartoonist.
It's said that “A cartoon is worth a
thousand words” So how does it affect
us? A good cartoon makes you think
about the current situation and has the
power to sway reader's opinion towards
the cartoonist's point of view. Many
leading newspapers such as The Hindu,
Times of India and the Guardian
displayed major public health issues in
India such as malnutrition, sanitation,
lack of drinkable water, mental health
and premature mortality because of
hunger. But now as the world is going
through a pandemic, cartoonist are
trying to create awareness among people
by informing them about COVID-19, its
precautions and sometimes even giving
it a political twist for supporting peoples
thought and letting the entire world
know what are the situations occurring
in their country.
Although cartoons are really interesting
14
to look at because of proficient use of
words in it one should surely give a
second thought before writing it for
example. The cartoon titled 'Wuhan Se
Yahaan Le Aaye' indicated the recent
evacuation of Indian nationals from the
virus-hit city through two Air India
flights. This cartoon further divided the
entire twitter, after realizing it, the new
sketch of Amul, featured the Amul girl
wearing a mask walking out of an Air
India aircraft along with a group of
people, all wearing masks. Budding
cartoonists share their artwork
depicting cartoons for how not to believe
in the hoax and scams related to COVID-
19 all over social media such as on
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and
Pinterest. Cartoons are big part of life
from streets, newspaper, magazine and
Social media to government ads. It's
everywhere and it's up to the cartoonist
for voicing their opinion through means
of art and to the readers to decide what
they should believe in.