Never easy to find the real story?

Thanks to Thomas Turk for his letter. First of all, I’d like to say that I agree with him that the evil dictator Bashar al-Assad is quite an easy shortcut and a caricature. But don’t think we in the media are so stupid. This is something that most journalists are quite aware of. But giving the Syrian regime some credit as to what they claim takes a bit of prudence. We media people are supposed to be professional and, unlike any citizen, we cannot allow ourselves to be fed with crap information from conspiracy-theory websites. 

You’re talking propaganda, Mr Turk, but even the easy shortcuts of the Western press are still – by far – better than the Iranian or Syrian TV reports. Yes, there are foreign jihadists in Syria. Yes, Bashar is probably not the worst guy in the world and he probably made the mistake of believing what he said and giving too many green lights to his repressive security services (his brother is known to be the real butcher in this story). Yes, the Saudi and Qatari Wahabite Sunnis are financing this insurgency because they want to get rid of the Alaouites and the Shi’ites and counter the influence of Iran in the region. We all know that the story is much more complex than the easy-to-digest news that people are given on the evening TV news. 

But, as a cartoonist, I can only go with the flow. Field reporters and opinion editors must first explain the big picture to the readers, gradually, as more information becomes available and is verified (like that from Robert Fisk), then the cartoonist can come up with a cartoon that summarises the situation. I cannot go faster than that. I have the same conviction as you, Mr Turk – that the story is not exactly what we are told. But then again, I could be accused of siding with Iranian and Syrian propaganda (which is even worse in my mind). But again, I thank you for your letter and yes, I advise readers to check the report by Robert Fisk in The Independent, which is extremely interesting.

Stephff

Nation cartoonist