Krissy Dwyer
Celebrated New Zealand Herald cartoonist Rod Emmerson says covering the Christchurch earthquake has been the most challenging work he has ever had to do.
“The Bali bombings, 9/11, the Boxing Day tsunami affected nations around the world. Yet, this disaster was on home turf – and has touched all of us in some way,” Emmerson says.
His first quake cartoon depicted the godly hand of Mother Nature crossing out Christchurch on the map.
“On day one, we all knew from the images surfacing that many lives were to be lost. I needed to approach this with compassion and yet reflect the dismay of lives affected.”
Emmerson portrayed the national two minutes of silence one week after the quake as a flat line on a seismograph.
Accuracy is the most difficult part of covering the earthquake disaster, Emmerson says.
“I rely heavily on our journalists to get the story as accurate as possible, so I can find a loose thread to start with.”
Radio listening
Watching the news and listening to radio also helps.
For Emmerson, who started to work for the Herald in 2003 and has won many awards for his work, reaching the balance between respect and impact is not easy, but comes with experience, he says.
“When lives are lost so quickly, and so many people are affected, it is no time for blame or persecution. Everyone, from our journalists on the ground to picture editors to cartoonists, must approach this with the utmost respect.”
He is not only a cartoonist, but an artist, he says. “I can create images to reflect sorrow, grief, hope and moving on. Each day of a disaster is different. You have to gauge the feeling of the day and work from there.”
Emmerson did not draw a devastated and destroyed city.
“That’s for our photographers to do,” he says. “They deal with the real world images. I deal with the emotional side.”
The audience’s reaction is always at the back of his mind.
“You simply can’t afford to have a cartoon misinterpreted when there is so much grief and horror unfolding.
“You actually become part of the healing process, believe it or not. I am acutely aware of this, as is the Herald. The editors have thanked me each night for the work I have done.” - Te Waha Nui/Pacific Media Watch
More Emmerson cartoons
Pacific Media Watch
