Blogging: A new arena for cartoon journalism

Throughout its journalistic history, Pakistan has paid a certain degree of attention to cartoon journalism also, and it has often been used as a tool by the country’s cartoonists to give a satirical twist to social, political or religious incidents that take place around the country.

Considering the genre that it belongs to, and the fact that most of us are crazy about animations, (look at the eagerness with which we wait for animated movies to be released!) cartoon journalism is neither a very popular, nor a well-understood sub-section of journalism. In spite of that, we do have some famous cartoonists like Shahid Mahmood, Yusuf Lodhi, Jawed Iqbal, Nigar Nazar and many more. However, despite the fact that we are in an era where the Internet is being increasingly used to connect to an increasingly large audience, it is surprising that many Pakistani cartoonists are not yet online.

There are naturally plenty of reasons for this lapse on the part of our cartoonists, and for the most part, this is most probably because the idea of showcasing their cartoons online on blogs has not yet occurred to a large percentage of Pakistan’s amateur cartoonists in particular. However, there are some journalists and amateur artists who enjoy using ‘toons as a medium of expression.’ One such blogger-cartoonist is Jahanzaib Haque, who uses ‘stick-figures’, to portray his thoughts on his blog, ‘Jay’s Toons.’

Speaking at the recently conducted Network!! Pakistan’s First International Social Media Summit, Jahanzaib Haque, while conducting a workshop on ‘Mainstream Media and the Power of Toons over Blogs’ spoke about what is actually needed to host a successful too-blog. “When you are writing or blogging, think about your audience and try and find ways to actually connect to them,” he said. His own solution is to mix the serious with the humorous, especially since people generally tend to like a humorous take on any situation.

Jahanzaib also feels that “the situation in Pakistan is such that people are just dying for change, and what they are actually looking for is a savior, a hero, and anyone who can speak up against the evils currently existing in our society will fit the role.” However, he does have a piece of advice for all those of his fans who appreciate his satirical views on current affairs. The Internet is a new, effective and extremely simple way of connecting to a very large audience. Therefore, all those who wish to bring about a change in their society, or correct some perceived evil around them, should ‘try to rise up on their own.’ Via blogging, using your Internet space wisely and effectively, bloggers could try to better their society by voicing their opinions to the rest of the world. And cartoon-blogs, thanks to the huge amount of traffic they are capable of generating, is one very interesting and unique way to attract people to your way of thinking.