The Cartoonists Rights
Network, International selects one of the cartoons from our annual competition,
Freedom in Journalism to receive a special award for its insightful rendering of
what is most important in freedom of expression. Mihai Igant expresses this in
his cartoon featured on this page as the winner for 2003.
Despite the censorship that various levels of society may impose on the reader,
it is the reader's instincts and intuition that is the informant of last and
best resort. No matter what the censors try, no matter how thorough their heavy
hands might be, intelligence, human curiosity and the need of every person to be
informed about the environment if he or she is to successfully defend the family
that drives a sense of what is the truth.
Anthropologists tell us that the nature's experiment with human beings has been
as successful as it has been because of intelligence and adaptability. Human
beings are the most successful species at adapting to changing environments and
at innovating new methods of dealing with a dangerous world. The requirement of
being informed is central to that survival, both for the species, and for the
individual. This is why censorship can never be a successful strategy for
oppressive governments. Inquiring minds insist on knowing. Freedom of
expression isn't just a right extended by governments to citizens. It is a
requirement under the principles of natural selection and survival of the
species.
Mihai Igant eloquently expresses this in his cartoon.
Edition 2001
Edition 2002
Edition 2003
Mihai Ignat (Romania)