Cartoons & Analysis

Dannys Post

Introduction & Terminology

Project #2 By Media Smarty Pants (Danielle Adams, Kylie Martinez, Bryce Parkinson)

Cartoon by Danielle Adams

Illegal Immigration and Undocumented Workers

Immigrant:

An immigrant is an invited guest who comes to a country where they are not a citizen in order to settle there. The term implies permanent, legal, residency.

Illegal Immigrant:

llegal immigration is the movement of people across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. Illegal immigrants are also known as illegal aliens to differentiate them from legal aliens. ...

***Are “illegal aliens” simply misunderstood “undocumented immigrants?” The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Diversity Committee believes so, and it’s engaged in a campaign to “inform and sensitize journalists as to the best language to use when writing and reporting” on the issue.

Project # Two

Goal: To apply media effects theories, media literacy concepts, and journalism ethics to an analysis of editorial cartoons depicting the controversy in the U.S. regarding undocumented workers. To identify and to analyze the “stories” being told about race, ethnicity and immigrants by editorial cartoonists.
Rationale: One of the most controversial domestic issues facing America is immigration and undocumented workers from Mexico and Latin American countries: Congressional proposals call for undocumented workers to be charged with criminal offenses and deported; many politicians successfully demanded building a wall across the U.S./Mexico border, a measure approved by former President Bush; vigilante groups such as the Minutemen monitor the borders for undocumented immigrants. Anti-immigration protestors’ demands range from sending all undocumented immigrants back to Mexico or imprisoning them for violating immigration laws.
Data Collection & Coding
1. Collect the cartoons depicting issues related to undocumented workers in the U.S. from diverse news sources. In other words, do not use the same newspaper or cartoonist for all of your cartoons, or limit to ones from only “liberal” or “conservative” news sources. Cartoons should represent diverse opinions.
2. Collect a minimum of 20 cartoons published in 2009-2011. Divide the work of collecting the cartoons among team members. Include both domestic and international cartoons.
3. Teams meet during class time to code and analyze the cartoons.

4. Research your topic—Identify the facts vs. the myths before you begin coding

5. Cartoons and coding sheets are organized into a folder or notebook to submit with the team essay or multimedia project. Include full citation information for the cartoons (e.g., date, news source, cartoonists). Be sure to number each cartoon and staple coding sheet to each. Notebooks are required for ALL teams unless you post all cartoons and coding sheets to a blog or include in power point.

6. Include a list of team members and their responsibilities for the assignment in the notebook.

Content/Analysis Guidelines
1. Intro: Summarize, but not everything! Apply the “Fred Rule.” What’s the most startling, most interesting “news” from your study of these cartoons? What are your key findings?
2. What is the overall message conveyed in the cartoons regarding immigration and undocumented workers? In other words, how are the immigrants and the issues framed by the editorial cartoonists?
3. How would you characterize the overall tone of the cartoons—positive/negative, etc.? Why?
4. What stories about race and ethnicity are reinforced or challenged in the cartoons?
5. What are the different messages being cultivated about the immigration debate in our country?
6. What terms are used to describe undocumented immigrants? Are the terms considered degrading or derogatory?
7. Is there a difference in the tone of the cartoons published in different news sources or drawn by different cartoonists? What difference do you find between domestic and international cartoons?
8. What are the major differences and similarities between how different cartoonists frame immigration?
9. Relate your conclusions to framing theory and other relevant media effects theories and media literacy concepts that we’ve discussed. How are the cartoonists constructing a specific “reality” about immigration?
10. Which do the cartoonists privilege—truth or truthiness
11. Can you suggest the potential impact of the cartoons? How are we encouraged to “think” about the immigration and undocumented immigrants working in the U.S.?
12. Be sure that the conclusions you present in your team essay are supported by the editorial cartoons you coded and analyzed.
13. Be specific and use examples from the cartoons to support your major arguments.

Please note: I’m not asking you to take a position in the debate over immigration reform. In other words, your team essay or multimedia project is NOT about whether you oppose or support the criminalization of undocumented workers. In order to conduct a “fair and balanced” analysis of the cartoons, you must be able to analyze—fairly—how the cartoonists frame the issue without your personal opinions interfering. It’s very important to be aware that our selective perceptions, attention and retention processes are forms of bias that need to be set aside in order to analyze media objectively.