Ultraman & tsunami......opppssss!

Image source: www.aramaiti.net

Last March, Berita Harian had published a cartoon, which represented the heartbreaking Tsunami, and earthquake that killed thousands of people and destroyed Japan. The cartoon is a picturization of Japanese famous cartoon character who is running away from an oncoming Tsunami disaster. This had caused many parties to be against the publication as they thought it was not unethical to do so. Most people felt that it is poor judgment of the publication and described the cartoon as ‘distasteful’ and ‘insensitive’. UMNO Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin tweeted that the publication must apologize for its act of publishing the cartoon that is “impervious towards the Japanese” As a result Berita Harian had apologized publically via on its website and social networking accounts such as Twitter and Facebook after several parties demanded for an apology.

In my opinion, it is highly inappropriate for the publication to do such act. The reason is because the cartoon had made fun of the pain and heartache that the Japanese went through. The publication should have certain limit of decency while publishing any images. “A newspaper cannot escape conviction of insincerity if, while professing high moral purpose, it supplies incentives to base conduct, such as are to be found in details of crime and vice, publication of which is not demonstrably for the general good”. (The University of Tennessee 2007) Hence it is highly unethical for the publication to do such act. Besides that, it might sound comical to Malaysians but the publication fail to realize that it sounds cynical to the Japanese. It sounded as if mocking those people who had lost their life in Tsunami and earthquake.

Schriver (1997, p.410) has stated ‘visuals are not always helpful’. This is because visual can end up giving the wrong interpretation to the readers. As what mentioned by Peeck (1987 cited Schriver 1997, p.410), pictures may even get in the way, especially if they merely decorate the text distracting readers from fully concentrating on the content.  The cartoon image seems to send conflicting images to readers as it gives the false representation.(Schriver 1997)

Publishing news and information of pictures must be examined carefully for accuracy, and their true meaning must not be altered by editing, title or photo comment. (gulfnews 2011). In conclusion I would like to stress again that a newspaper is a publication that meant to serve the truth to the public. Thus, in cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries and approaches must be made with sympathy and discretion and publication handled sensitively. (Press Complaints Commission 1991) Thus it is essential for publication to weigh the pros and cons of its actions before executing it.

Reference

• ARAIMAITI.NET 2011, CARTOON TSUNAMI SENDA JEPUN, viewed 8 June 2011 < http://aramaiti.net/matai-ti-photo/cartoon-tsunami-berita-harian-senda-jepun/>
• The University of Tennessee 2007, Code of Ethics, viewed 8 June 2011, <http://web.utk.edu/~spubs/spubcode.html>
• Press Complaints Commission 1999, EDITORS’ CODE OF PRACTICE, viewed 8 June 2011, <http://www.pcc.org.uk/cop/practice.html>
• gulfnews.com 2011, Code of Ethics, viewed 8 June 2011, <http://gulfnews.com/about-gulf-news/help/code-of-ethics-1.446056>
• Schriver, K.A. 1997, Chapter 6: The interplay of words and pictures, Dynamics in document design: creating text for readers, Wiley Computer Pub, New York, pp 361-441

Maheswari Ganga Gangaya

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