Our major political parties have taken to new forms of social media to try to win the hearts and minds of voters this election. Will the memes and TikTok videos work?
University of New England Associate Professor Richard Scully, who has spent more than 15 years studying the history of the political cartoon, shares his observations as election day nears.
“This campaign has taken on a slightly different complexion,” Richard says. “It’s not just the classic, newspaper-framed cartoons, but the catchy memes and animations and videos that Labor and the Coalition have been sharing online, on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. We are seeing the cartoon evolve in ways we couldn’t have predicted.”
In a galaxy far, far away
Many examples reference popular culture, like the Liberal meme depicting Anthony Albanese as Forrest Gump or the video starring Scott Morrison in a battle scene from Star Wars. In its satirical Honest (Australien) Government advertisements, Juice Media even plunders content distributed by the government itself.
We have seen memes appear within minutes of a gaffe or embarrassing moment on the campaign trail.
“Facebook is a bit daggy; TikTok is very much where it’s at for the younger demographic, and if someone is trying to communicate something more serious, then it’s usually on Twitter,” Richard says. “We’re seeing a very canny use of different media to appeal to distinct audiences.
“We are also seeing traditional cartoons shared more on social media, on the cartoonist’s site, Twitter feed, or by their masthead, and this is resulting in thousands of likes and shares. Social media is enabling the traditional cartoon to reach more people – and faster. We have seen memes appear within minutes of a gaffe or embarrassing moment on the campaign trail.”
Commentators of our times
However, Richard doesn’t necessarily think that greater distribution equals greater influence. “There are so many other things going on that alter public opinion,” he says, “but what cartoons tend to do is to reflect existing feeling. The best cartoons capture the essence of a complex issue or situation and clarify it for people – often it was what they were already thinking – and they do so in a humorous way.
The best cartoons capture the essence of a complex issue or situation and clarify it for people – often it was what they were already thinking.
“Cartoonists are commonly seen as jesters, but I regard them as journalists. They can either try to be fair-minded or aggressive campaigners for a particular side of an argument, and that tends to make things entertaining, memorable and influential.”
This is the first election for some time (in fact, since 2007) that the incumbent Prime Minister has remained in office for a full term, so it has given cartoonists and satirists an abundance of material to work with.
“From Scott Morrison’s daggy dad persona, Hawaiian shirts and ukuleles to him being often depicted with his pants on fire, he’s now got a lot of baggage that has been reflected in cartoons,” Richard says. “On the other hand, most traditional cartoonists have had a lot of trouble drawing Albanese, which is interesting in itself.”
Richard is gathering material on the 2022 campaign’s cartoons, memes and videos for a chapter to be included in an ANU Press publication covering the election. Whether all the online satire and trickery translates into votes on 21 May remains to be seen.
