The attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices killed some of France’s best-known cartoonists. The satirical newspaper was well known for its controversial images, which regularly satirised Islam amongst other religions. The newspaper’s latest tweet featured a cartoon of the leader of Islamic state.
“It’s horrific absolutely, and the nature of the violence is really scary and unfortunately, around the world, acts of violence against cartoonists in positions of descent is not new. What’s new is how high-profile it was,” says local cartoonist Eric Dyck.
Dyck says he was a rattled by the news
“There is extreme potency in showing your point of view or your message through a visual medium”.
People around the world have reacted to Wednesday’s attack with their most powerful weapon: the pen.
“I think cartooning is extremely powerful and maybe in North America we don’t value cartoonists the same way and take that for granted, but a single image has incredible power”.
Dyck admits that he can sometimes be anxious about potential backlash after his cartoons are published.
“I have upset people right here in Lethbridge and I have gotten feedback, positive and negative, and that’s what free speech is all about. I know some people don’t like what I do and I think every cartoonist has to think about these things, but every cartoonist has to be responsible if they think their message is important.”
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