In the wake of the tenth anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Cartooning for Peace announce the launch of an international press and digital campaign. This initiative aims to celebrate the courage and creativity of editorial cartoonists while strengthening the fight for press freedom. Defending the freedom to draw is defending the freedom of the press.
Marking the tenth anniversary of the attack on the French media outlet Charlie Hebdo and the subsequent public mobilizations, this campaign, based on an original idea by The Good Company, a creative agency that supports RSF, highlights the ongoing risks faced by cartoonists around the world, often threatened for their critical and satirical work.
Iconic drawings by cartoonists from around the world, members of the Cartooning for Peace network, will be published on the digital platforms of RSF and Cartooning for Peace. In print media, a blank page will be inserted to symbolize the threats and censorship faced by editorial cartoonists: “An image, even a blank one, is sometimes worth more than a thousand words,” explains Hadi Hassan-Helou, Creative Director of The Good Company.
“This tenth anniversary is a call to action to support and protect the voices that dare to challenge authority and oppression through art and satire. Charlie and the Charlies of the world perform the daily exercise of our freedoms, and public support is essential for them to continue their irreverent work of commenting on current events. Let’s maintain our taste for laughter and our love for caricature, an essential complement to fact-telling.
Thibaut BruttinDirector general of Reporters Without Borders
“We have a duty, because we are almost the last ones standing, to prominently wield the banner of the right to satire and press freedom. And we will not do so out of a spirit of corporatism, or some kind of symbolic attachment. We must do it because they are the two legs of our freedom of expression.
KakPresident of Cartooning for Peace
About Reporters Without Borders: RSF is an international organisation that fights for press freedom and the right to information.
About Cartooning for Peace: created in 2006 on the initiative of Kofi Annan, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Secretary General of the United Nations, and the cartoonist Plantu, Cartooning for Peace is an international network of cartoonists committed to promoting freedom of expression and human rights through the universal language of press cartoons.
Agency credits The Good Company Agency managers: Jeanne Neuschwander, Julien Quidor dit Pasquet, Luc Wise. Creative Director : Nicolas Gadesaude. Creative Director: Hadi Hassan-Helou. Creative team: Livia Meliava & Elisa Jay. Strategic planning: Marion Maringe. Account Director: Maxime Brafman. Advertising Manager: Garance Askevis
This January, Cartooning for Peace, which is committed to defending freedom of expression on a daily basis, is paying tribute to Charlie Hebdo: More information here.
