250 word summarising - Visualizing the face of domestic terrorism in editorial cartoons- by Janis.L.Edwards.

Visualising the face of domestic terrorism in editorial cartoons: transforming a stereotype.- Janis.L.Edwards.

Cartoonists in the past found it really easy to depict terrorists using stereotypes. The meaning and the idea that the cartoonist is trying to convey was easily recognised. However there are two problems with this, it unfairly stigmatizes individuals or a group, and the stereotype could fail to communicate effectively with the intended purpose.  The perspective of terrorism from the U.S. is largely based on the Middle Eastern and Muslim people. They were usually depicted as ‘bomb-throwing, terrorist villain, with his dark bushy beard and big nose, developed as an easily recognized reference.’Edwards,2,2008. International terrorists where given the stereotype however domestic terrorism is different as it is American citizens, ecoterrorism, mail bombs and anit-abortion assassinations and attempted murders. This presented a challenge for editorial cartoonists. They had to change their visual depictions of terrorists. Less the 1% of terror attacks in the U.S. where performed by international terrorists it was actually domestic terrorism. As cartoonists battled with changing the face of terrorism, they responded to domestic terrorism in three ways. They re-enacted dramatic events, depicting the event rather than the person, the impact of terrorism on community and ‘definitional depictions of the perpetrators.’ Edwards,7,2015. This means that they used masked men, the devil, the KKK, or a beast. So in order to solve the problem they made the terrorist itself, face less. This is a much more equal and fair way to depict the diversity of terrorism and defeats the stereotype. When 9/11 came along there where less stereotypical depictions used and more metaphorical images, this demonstrates well the positive change that came about because of it.