Humor in Journalism and Reporting

Journalists often allude to children’s literature, because in our diverse culture, memories of classic children’s books are what we all have in common.

Nursery Rhymes and Folk Tales are a rich resource because they present a full array of personalities

• Chicken Little to represent alarmists

• Pinocchio to represent liars.

• The Big Bad Wolf to warn us of danger

• The Frog Prince to give hope to discouraged women

• Humpty Dumpty to point out how easy it is to fall from grace

In the Old Days, when Humpty Dumpty fell, sympathetic bystanders rushed to put him back together, but in a recent cartoon he was shunned by creatures shouting “Salmonella!”

• Cultural Icons can be either

– recognized visual symbols

– or familiar words that can be parodied.

• Editorial Cartoonists first have to help the viewers into the mindset of the original,

• Then take them in a new direction.

For efficiency, cartoonists make use of common visual symbols

• Pointing fingers or arrows

• The Trojan Horse

• Tombstones and the initials R.I.P.

• Skulls/The Grim Reaper

• The three monkeys (See no evil. Hear No evil. Speak no evil)

• The Ghost of Christmas Past

• Superman

• Railroad tracks not matching up

What are the cultural icons used by American journalists and editorial cartoonists? What about the cultural icons of other countries?

Don and Alleen Nilsen “Humor Across the Academic Disciplines” PowerPoints: https://www.public.asu.edu/~dnilsen/