"School Shooting Vultures"

Recently there was an extremely saddening and disheartening event in Sandy Hook elementary school in Newton, Connecticut. A 20 year-old male entered the building and killed twenty-six individuals, twenty of them children. In the aftermath of this event, the media has been undergoing a lot of scrutiny. The murderer, Adam Lanza, has had his name and face posted all over the news, making him notorious and infamous. Many argue that the media is taking advantage of this aspect of the event to obtain views and ratings, rather than focusing on the lives of the children and teachers that were lost. This cartoon depicts these stations as vultures hovering above the school. The piece was created by Daryl Cagle, founder and owner of Cagle Cartoons, Inc. It is most likely intended for Americans who are fed up with our media. Many believe it is a cause for the increase in violent shootings like this one, because the attackers name is so widely posted that they become famous. The purpose of the article may be to point out the urgency of the issue to encourage media reforms. Cagle personifies the media entities as vultures, which allows him communicate a lot through the connotations of the birds without actually saying very much. The cartoon is in black and white, which allows the message to resonate better with the average onlooker. Overall, Daryl Cagle produced a well-thought-out interpretation of the events. However, it may have been more effective if he was more specific on his message, because it seems that it could be interpreted in a multitude of ways since the birds are not specified as vultures anywhere except in the title.

To view the cartoon: http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/9c209b15-4698-44ef-99a7-8e86aedaf2c7.html