Introduction

This website was designed as part of a project for a Journalism class at Utah State University. The project was aimed at analyzing how editorial cartoons represented certain news topics popular in the media. We picked a total of 16 cartoons all dealing with the same issue, Net Neutrality. Simply put, Net Neutrality is the idea that the internet should be free and open for users.

Tom Toles, an editorial cartoonist for the Washington Post said it best, “If you would like to understand net neutrality, I would like to explain it for you. I would like to, but I can’t, because it is too complicated. This is a problem. It is a problem because here we have a big, VERY important public policy question on which we should have an informed opinion and it’s nearly impossible to understand. But we have to do our best” (Toles, 2014).

Because this issue can be quite complex, the best explanation of Net Neutrality we found was by a 9 year-old:

“Pretend ice cream stores gave away free milkshakes. But you had to buy a straw to drink them. But that’s okay, because you still get free milkshakes. One day you’re drinking a free milkshake and you look down and the guy that sold you the straw is pinching it almost shut. You can still get your milkshake, but it’s really hard and takes a lot longer.

So you say, “Hey! Stop that!” And the straw guy says, “NO! Not until the ice cream store pays me money.” And you say, “But I already paid you money for the straw.” And the straw guy says, “I don’t care. I just want more money” (Smith, 2015).

Makes sense right?

Now we will answer some questions that will explain what we learned in our study and analysis of Net Neutrality.

What are the most startling, or most interesting “news” facts that you’ve learned from your study of these cartoons?

One of the most interesting facts that we learned from our study is that the current Chairman of the FCC, Tom Wheeler actually used to work for Comcast. He was a lobbyist that campaigned for Congress to pass bills that tended to favor the business strategies of Comcast. The fact that he then switched over to work for the Federal Communications Commission was quite a change.

What is the overall message conveyed in the cartoons? In other words, how are the people and the issues framed by the editorial cartoonists?

Most of the editorial cartoons we found, tended to lean in favor of Net Neutrality. In other words, people generally wanted the internet to remain free and open for all. There were less cartoons opposing Net Neutrality. The overall tone of the cartoons expressed the nation’s discontent for the current lack of restrictions placed on Internet Service Providers. In 2010, when Net Neutrality was struck down by the federal courts, the government and the FCC were framed as the ‘bad guys’ within the editorial cartoons. More recently though, the cartoons are changing that framework and viewing them in a more positive light. Almost all of the cartoons were framed in a negative mindset however. Whether they were for or against Net Neutrality, they were all viewed negatively.

For a more comprehensive look at the background of Net Neutrality please visit our ‘What is Net Neutrality?’ section. By exploring our website more information dealing with Net Neutrality and our collection of analyzed editorial cartoons on the subject can be found.

“All information, including videos and pictures, on this site are for educational use only. This use is protected by the educational fair use provision of the United States Copyright law, www.cetus.org.”