The Death of Satire?

[Yahonza]

Are we witnessing the death of satire - and the end of democracy.
First Steve Bell gets fired from the Guardian, now Private Eye is in the cross-hairs.
Holding things up to ridicule in cartoons / newspapers is part of the healthy democratic debate about things that are wrong with the world.
We can't end up like the rest, surely.

Or am I imagining it?

[DeejRC]

Well you could always provide some clarity on what you are talking about…

[Earthdweller]

Apparently it was a cartoonist with deeply offensive and antisemetic content

No loss really

[Super Sonic]

Isn't Private Eye always 'in the crosshairs'?

[JagLover]

Earthdweller said:

Apparently it was a cartoonist with deeply offensive and antisemetic content

No loss really

Not sure on that one.

You cannot automatically assume anti-Semitism. He claimed it was a reference to an old Lyndon Johnson cartoon and that made more sense than it being a Shylock reference.

[CT05 Nose Cone]

JagLover said:

Earthdweller said:

Apparently it was a cartoonist with deeply offensive and antisemetic content

No loss really

Not sure on that one.

You cannot automatically assume anti-Semitism. He claimed it was a reference to an old Lyndon Johnson cartoon and that made more sense than it being a Shylock reference.

Not the first time he's been in trouble for racially insensitive cartoons though, which you'd think The Guardian of all places would be rather hot on...

[JuanCarlosFandango]

Nah, there's an official satire show at 6:30pm on Radio 4 and HIGNFY will be sticking it to the establishment on the state broadcaster at 9pm on Friday just as they have done every week since 1990.

[NNH]

I think Private Eye has generated precisely the reaction it was looking for. The usual mob are attempting to conflate criticism of Israeli government policy with antisemitism, and I've no doubt that the magazine will continue to provoke hypocrites of all kinds.

https://twitter.com/PrivateEyeNews/status/17145451...

[Astacus]

And long May it continue to do so.
Steve Bell has been scribbling excellent cartoons since I was a lad and that’s a bloody long time.
The Grauniard has lost the plot on this one. But it doesn’t surprise me.

[Cliftonite]

JuanCarlosFandango said:

Nah, there's an official satire show at 6:30pm on Radio 4 and HIGNFY will be sticking it to the establishment on the state broadcaster at 9pm on Friday just as they have done every week since 1990.

" . . . every week . . . " ?!

I wish!

[henrycrun]

Radio 4 Friday night archive

The News Quiz, Deadringers, The Now Show

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p02pc9pj

Edited by henrycrun on Wednesday 18th October 22:40

[P-Jay]

NNH said:

I think Private Eye has generated precisely the reaction it was looking for. The usual mob are attempting to conflate criticism of Israeli government policy with antisemitism, and I've no doubt that the magazine will continue to provoke hypocrites of all kinds.

https://twitter.com/PrivateEyeNews/status/17145451...

I agree 100% with this.

Israel has always shouted "antisemitism" at any criticism of them and especially their atrocious Human Rights violations and War Crimes and our Media keep falling for it. Only last week when Jewish Faith schools in London was closing, the BBC was reporting on "Antisemitic Graffiti" - the Graffiti? Someone had painted "Free Palestine" on a bridge.

[captain_cynic]

Super Sonic said:

Isn't Private Eye always 'in the crosshairs'?

Pretty much.

Satire isn't dying. The idea that some people get to be as offensive as they like and avoid criticism is dying and it's about time too.

[captain_cynic]

P-Jay said:

I agree 100% with this.

Israel has always shouted "antisemitism" at any criticism of them and especially their atrocious Human Rights violations and War Crimes and our Media keep falling for it. Only last week when Jewish Faith schools in London was closing, the BBC was reporting on "Antisemitic Graffiti" - the Graffiti? Someone had painted "Free Palestine" on a bridge.

What people don't like to admit is that I'd your criticism about Israel is valid, you aren't accused of anti Semitism.

Some people want to make out thatany criticism of Israel is accused of anti-Semitism because they want to have other eople defend anti-Semitism for them

[psi310398]

I’m pretty much with the sentiment here re freedom of speech but it is also worth recalling that there has been a strain of public school anti-Semitism in Private Eye since it was founded - it’s not been that long since they stopped the Snipcock and Tweed cartoon, for example. The Snipcock character was a caricature of a thinly disguised but very prominent actual Jewish publisher.

[Astacus]

captain_cynic said:

Pretty much.

Satire isn't dying. The idea that some people get to be as offensive as they like and avoid criticism is dying and it's about time too.

Well I wish that were true, but clearly it isn’t.
There has always been a feeling that it’s OK to offend some but not others. The people it’s OK to offend changes from time to time, but the innate hypocrisy remains the same.

[biggbn]

The world is now satire, all we need to do to ensure it never dies is record world events.

[P-Jay]

captain_cynic said:

P-Jay said:

I agree 100% with this.

Israel has always shouted "antisemitism" at any criticism of them and especially their atrocious Human Rights violations and War Crimes and our Media keep falling for it. Only last week when Jewish Faith schools in London was closing, the BBC was reporting on "Antisemitic Graffiti" - the Graffiti? Someone had painted "Free Palestine" on a bridge.

What people don't like to admit is that I'd your criticism about Israel is valid, you aren't accused of anti Semitism.

Some people want to make out thatany criticism of Israel is accused of anti-Semitism because they want to have other eople defend anti-Semitism for them

I don't agree with that, I will admit that People often fall into the trap of becoming anti-Semitic or at least saying anti-Semitic things because of things that Israel has done. Roald Dahl fell into the same trap, his legacy forever smudged because he said some unpleasant things about Zionist Jews as an old sick man, always without Context. He dared to say unpleasant things about Israel and how the IDF killed thousands of people in Lebanon, they will do exactly the same thing now in Gaza, they will kill thousands of innocent Palestinians - they do every single year.

[Solocle]

CT05 Nose Cone said:

JagLover said:

Earthdweller said:

Apparently it was a cartoonist with deeply offensive and antisemetic content

No loss really

Not sure on that one.

You cannot automatically assume anti-Semitism. He claimed it was a reference to an old Lyndon Johnson cartoon and that made more sense than it being a Shylock reference.

Not the first time he's been in trouble for racially insensitive cartoons though, which you'd think The Guardian of all places would be rather hot on...

Indeed. He may claim that, but given his history of invoking classic antisemitic tropes, well, let's just say that the benefit of the doubt jar is empty.

Part of the "it was a scam" "witchhunt" crowd which tries to deny the antisemitism in their own tribe.

Edited by Solocle on Thursday 19th October 11:50

[ATG]

P-Jay said:

captain_cynic said:

P-Jay said:

I agree 100% with this.

Israel has always shouted "antisemitism" at any criticism of them and especially their atrocious Human Rights violations and War Crimes and our Media keep falling for it. Only last week when Jewish Faith schools in London was closing, the BBC was reporting on "Antisemitic Graffiti" - the Graffiti? Someone had painted "Free Palestine" on a bridge.

What people don't like to admit is that I'd your criticism about Israel is valid, you aren't accused of anti Semitism.

Some people want to make out thatany criticism of Israel is accused of anti-Semitism because they want to have other eople defend anti-Semitism for them

I don't agree with that, I will admit that People often fall into the trap of becoming anti-Semitic or at least saying anti-Semitic things because of things that Israel has done. Roald Dahl fell into the same trap, his legacy forever smudged because he said some unpleasant things about Zionist Jews as an old sick man, always without Context. He dared to say unpleasant things about Israel and how the IDF killed thousands of people in Lebanon, they will do exactly the same thing now in Gaza, they will kill thousands of innocent Palestinians - they do every single year.

Many people try to dismiss legitimate criticism of Israel as anti-Semitism.

Many people try to disguise their anti-Semitism as just being criticism of Israel.

The two things are entirely compatible. aholes are everywhere.