TEDxGenevaChange - Tjeerd Royaards - Comics in crises
Cartoon Movement, an international community, argues that local storytelling through comics journalism is vital for accurately depicting ongoing issues in Haiti that international media overlooks. They support this by referencing over 600,000 people still living in tent camps and planning to expand this method to countries like Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia post-Arabs Spring. ## Speakers & Context - Cartoon Movement representative (Unnamed). - Matt Bores (Colleague who spent a month in Porto Príncipe). - Context is the persistent, underreported issues in Haiti years after the major earthquake. - The conversation is framed by the comparison between political cartoons and the more in-depth "Comics journalism." ## Theses & Positions - International media coverage often focuses only on the immediate crisis, failing to cover sustained, underlying problems. - Comics journalism offers a powerful means of visual reporting that allows for a personal and intimate perspective on real events told by those closest to them. - Storytelling is best told by the people who live through the events, rather than solely by external reporters. - The Haitian media itself has a narrow focus (e.g., parliamentary politics in List) and often neglects major daily issues like food/shelter, water, and violence against women and gays. - The method can be used to give local journalists the ability to report on sensitive issues they might not be allowed to publish in their own local media. ## Concepts & Definitions - **Political cartoons:** Give a perspective on international news in a single panel. - **Comics journalism:** A new form of visual reporting and storytelling where the places, events, persons, and dialogue featured in the comic are all real. - **Graphic Novel:** A concept Comics journalism is compared to, highlighting the difference that the subject matter in comics journalism must be factually rooted in reality. - **Tent cities:** Referring to the permanence and size of the tent camps where over 600,000 people remain. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Information Gathering:** Matt Bores and the representative spent a month in Porto Príncipe searching for local journalists and cartoonists. - **Reporting Mechanism:** Using Comics journalism—requiring only a pencil and paper—to achieve an intimate, authentic perspective from the subject's viewpoint. - **Local Media Comparison:** Comics journalism is positioned to supplement local media outlets that may have a narrow focus (e.g., List focusing on politics/economics). - **Training/Education:** The publication *Shimen laai* uses comics to teach practical skills like tent construction and disease prevention (cholera, hurricanes). ## Timeline & Sequence - **Summer of 2011:** When the representative and Bores spent time in Porto Príncipe to begin the project. - **January (of the current year):** The first chapter of the comic was published online. - **Eventual Future:** Plans to travel in November to Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia to execute the same reporting project after the initial regime removals (Arabs Spring). ## Named Entities - **Haiti:** Country focus of the reporting. - **Porto Príncipe:** Location where the team spent time searching for local talent. - **List:** Major daily newspaper in Haiti, publishing in French. - **Shimen laai:** A publication distributed in the tent camps, meaning "the way home," used for information and education. - **Chevin Pierre:** Local Haitian artist who draws the comics for *Shimen laai*. ## Numbers & Data - Over **140** cartoonists are part of Cartoon Movement. - Cartoonists originate from over **75** countries. - Over **600,000** people are currently living in tent camps. - The final comic project is planned to be **75 pages** long and divided into **eight chapters**. ## Examples & Cases - **Buso's cartoon:** An example used to summarize the situation in Haiti two years after the earthquake. - **The first chapter:** Covered the tent camps and the future of the tent camps. - **Other chapters:** Planned to focus on the role of the NGOs in Haiti, tracing the flow of aid money, and the position of women in Haitian Society. - ***Shimen laai*:** Shows the power of comics by teaching people how to best construct tents or prevent cholera. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **Pencil and paper:** The fundamental, low-tech tool advocated for journalists to get closer to subjects. - **Comics/Political Cartoons:** The medium used for visual reporting and storytelling. - ***Shimen laai*:** A specific comic publication used for education. ## References Cited - **Buso:** A local Haitian cartoonist whose cartoon exemplifies the current situation. - **Washington Post** and **The Guardian:** Major international media outlets that picked up the initial published chapter. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **International Media vs. Local Storytellers:** International media is good for immediate crisis coverage but often moves on; local storytellers provide necessary depth. - **List Newspaper's Focus vs. Needed Coverage:** *List* focuses on parliamentary politics and economics; this overlooks daily struggles like food, shelter, clean water, and violence against women and gays. - **Comics Journalism vs. Other Media:** Comics journalism offers opportunities for a more personal and intimate narrative style that other forms of media lack. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - The international media tends to focus on the immediate aftermath, allowing the problems of the affected populations to be forgotten. - The Haitian media's reporting is potentially too narrow or restricted in scope. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - The recommendation is for Cartoon Movement to continue using comics journalism to tell stories *after* the immediate crisis passes, providing background and perspective. - The plan is to replicate the successful model in politically unstable nations following periods of regime change (Libya, Egypt, Tunisia). ## Implications & Consequences - The successful use of comics can empower local journalists to report on issues that are systematically ignored by mainstream local press. - The project has the potential to reach both international audiences (via publication) and the local population inside the camps (via translation into *cri*). ## Verbatim Moments - *"Global media were very quick to respond in the direct aftermath of the earthquake but as the immediate urgency of the crisis passed the attention of the media shifted elsewhere."* - *"We feel that stories are told best by the people that are closest to them."* - *"Comics journalism you don't need bulky expensive camera gear or other journalistic equipment basically all you need is a pencil and paper which means you can get closer to your subject."* - *"A Haitian reporter will tell a different story than a western reporter will."* - *"This narrow focus is reflected in the articles that are published they publish about parliamentary politics and about economics but little is written about some of the major problems that affect the vast majority of Haitians on a daily basis such as the the struggle for food and shelter the need for clean water and the widespread violence against women and gays."* - *"It's safe to say that he's the most talented comic artist artists working in Haiti today."* - *"...they've decided to publish the the entire comic translated into cre into shim laai which means that in addition to reaching an international audience will also get to reach the people inside the tent camps and hopefully convey a sense that their story is being told in the world."* - *"here we will try to do the same thing as we did in Haiti work with local reporters tell the story after the crisis and use Comics to do so."*