Dov Fedler’s death marks the end of an era in political satire. His sharp wit and courage made him a beacon for free expression in journalism.
Some of the most effective political commentary in newspapers doesn’t flow just from the keyboards of writers or editors, but from the pens of their cartoonists.
That’s why we would like to take a moment to acknowledge the legendary Dov Fedler, one of this country’s top cartoonists, who died recently.
That his influence lives on comes from The Citizen’s own cartoonist, Themba Siwela, who says he was inspired by Fedler when he was setting out on his own cartoon career.
In particular, Siwela respected Fedler’s bravery in penning hard-hitting cartoons.
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A well-crafted cartoon uses humour to put across a point and cartoonists, like Fedler and Siwela, operate without fear or favour as the voice of the conscience of a nation.
Ironically, Fedler died at the same time that Washington Post cartoonist Ann Telnaes quit the newspaper after its editors rejected one of her cartoons which satirised the fawning relationship between tech businessmen and incoming US president Donald Trump.
One of those she drew in the cartoon was the Washington Post’s owner, Amazon mega-billionaire Jeff Bezos.
Cartoonists may seem like an anachronism in our high-tech media world, but without them – whether they leave through death or quitting – we are much poorer as a society.
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