Blaggie Awards

This job for the April 1st issue of Newcity had a 24 hour turnaround, and given the time constraints, I'm mostly satisfied with the results. Not having time to get away from my work for a while, then come back and reassess it in a more objective frame of mind is a challenge, particularly with (non-retail, obviously) caricatures, but I think everybody's favorite disgraced Illinois governor turned out well!

Any readers in Chicago? I'd love to get a photo of the print version if you've got a copy.

Governator

Click for larger image.

Dubya

Working the Ref

A frequently made assertion by pundits on the American right is that the mainstream news media, including most major newspapers and all of the major cable news networks (other than Fox News) have a left-wing bias. Though the claim that the corporate news media has a secret anti-conservative agenda is suspect at best, the “liberal media” has become a useful idea for conservatives, a whipping boy that allows them to claim persecution at the hands of a cabal of liberal journalists, and to gain leverage in the attempt to push news coverage to the right ("the center" they might claim). "If you watch any great coach," said Rich Bond, the 1992 chair of the republican party, "what they try to do is 'work the refs.' Maybe the ref will cut you a little slack on the next one."

Greenwashing

With growing concern about climate change and rising energy costs, consumers are increasingly conscious about the environment, and also increasingly drawn to environmentally friendly products--one need only look at the car dealerships filled with unsold SUVs for evidence. Some corporations are more than happy to exploit the public's newfound environmental awareness, "Greenwashing" their corporate identity by launching PR campaigns to trumpet that they are "going green" or are now more "eco-friendly," without making the hard decisions and sacrifices that actually doing so would entail.

Flow of Information

Network neutrality is the principle that information sent and received on the internet should not be discriminated against, regardless of its type, source, or ownership. Network neutrality legislation would prevent telecommunications giants such as Comcast and AT&T from being able to “tier” internet traffic, deciding what information is transmitted swiftly, and what isn’t. Without it, these corporations have the potential to charge fees for the unimpeded flow of that information, or, worse still, influence the load times of competitors’ websites, search engines, internet services, and more. Each time we log onto the internet, we assume that we’ll be able to read the news, to communicate with our friends and associates and to download entertainment, all without interference. Net neutrality allows internet data and information to continue to flow unimpeded, making these assumptions possible.

An Imbalanced Diet

More than ever in the age of the internet, news consumers are faced with the temptation to immerse themselves in only the news sources that reinforce their current political point of view. Though the mere existence Drudge Report, The Huffington Post, and other news sites with a clear partisan agenda does not constitute a problem, I believe that we owe it to our country and ourselves to maintain a balanced news diet which contains ideas from all sides of the political spectrum. Otherwise, we risk demonization of opposing viewpoints, partisan gridlock, and intellectual apathy.