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WORLD NEWS Thursday 13 sepTember 2018

Newspaper reprints controversial cartoon of Serena Williams

By ROD McGUIRK articles and cartoons did lit-
Associated Press tle to hurt Murdoch's pow-
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) er over British politics and
— A cartoon of Serena Wil- media, though his papers'
liams that has been widely underhanded practices
condemned as a racist de- did. Murdoch was forced
piction of the tennis great to shut down the 168-year-
has been partially reprint- old tabloid News of the
ed on the front page of the World in 2011 after the rev-
Melbourne-based newspa- elation that its employees
per that initially published it. had eavesdropped on
The Herald Sun newspaper the phone voice mails of
printed an edited portion celebrities, politicians and
of the cartoon — featur- crime victims.
ing 23-time Grand Slam Australian indigenous play-
winner Williams jumping wright and actress Nakkiah
on a broken racket during Lui tweeted in response
her dispute with a chair to the front page, saying
umpire in the U.S. Open fi- the Herald Sun needed to
nal — among caricatures "chill."
of other famous people "Freedom of speech
Wednesday under the doesn't mean freedom
headline "Welcome to the above criticism," she said.
PC World." "What we have is a bunch
The newspaper, which has of people who get paid to
Australia's largest circula- Melbourne-based newspaper Herald Sun displays a controversial cartoon of Serena Williams that publicly exercise their im-
tion, has defended its car- has been widely condemned as a racist depiction of the tennis great, in Melbourne, Australia, plied freedom to speech
toonist Mark Knight's depic- Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018. then whining when people
tion of Williams and is as- Associated Press disagree with what they
serting that the condemna- have had the privilege
tion, which has come from Knight reportedly has dis- ing a blond, slender wom- of Serena Williams' petu- of being paid to say," she
around the world, is driven abled his Twitter account an — meant to be Osaka, lance. It's about bad be- added.
by political correctness. after his post of the cartoon who is Japanese and Hai- havior, certainly not race. Australian writer Maxine
"If the self-appointed cen- attracted tens of thou- tian — "Can you just let her The PC brigade are way off Beneba Clarke said she
sors of Mark Knight get their sands of comments, mostly win?" the mark ... again." believed the front page
way on his Serena Williams critical. "I was deeply offended. This This isn't the first time a car- demonstrated a "misunder-
cartoon, our new politically During the final against is not a joke," said Vanessa toon in a News Corp. news- standing" of the criticism
correct life will be very dull Osaka, Williams got a warn- K. De Luca, former editor- paper has drawn allega- leveled at the cartoon.
indeed," the paper said on ing from the chair umpire in-chief of Essence maga- tions of racism. In 2009, civil "I think it's really interesting
its front page. for violating a rarely en- zine, who wrote a column rights leaders and others that the Herald Sun has not
Williams has won the Aus- forced rule against receiv- about the U.S. Open furor. criticized a New York Post included really any other
tralian Open singles title ing coaching from the side- The cartoonist "completely cartoon that some inter- caricatures or cartoons of
seven times at Melbourne lines. An indignant Williams missed the point of why preted as comparing Presi- black people — either Ab-
Park, including in 2017 emphatically defended she was upset," De Luca dent Barack Obama to a original people or African-
when she was pregnant. herself, denying she had told The Associated Press. violent chimpanzee. American people, black
She is a crowd favorite at cheated. A short time later, "It was about her integrity, In Britain, where fiercely people of any descent,"
the first tennis major of the she smashed her racket in and anybody who doesn't competitive tabloids often Clarke, who is of Afro-Ca-
year, which is held each frustration and was docked get that is perpetuating the trade in sensationalism, ribbean descent, told Aus-
January at a venue that is a point. She protested and erasure that so many black Rupert Murdoch-owned tralian Broadcasting Corp.
within sight of the Herald demanded an apology women feel when they are newspapers have been ac- Cartoonist Paul Zanetti, a
Sun's headquarters. from the umpire, who pe- trying to speak up for them- cused of sexism, racism and friend of Knight, said car-
In comments published by nalized her a game. selves. It's like our opinions xenophobia over the years. tooning was under threat
News Corp., Knight said he Critics of Knight's cartoon don't matter." Last year a former editor of from political correctness,
created the cartoon after described it as a clear ex- In a social media post, Pe- the Murdoch-owned Sun, and the Herald Sun front
watching Williams' "tan- ample of a stereotype fac- ter Blunden, managing di- Kelvin MacKenzie, quit as page "spelt out exactly
trum" during her U.S. Open ing black women, depict- rector of News Corp.'s op- a contributor to the tab- where we are at this point."
final loss to Naomi Osaka ing Williams as an irate, erations in the state of Vic- loid after writing a column "Political correctness is re-
on Saturday and that it was hulking, big-mouthed black toria, said: "Australia's finest comparing a soccer player ally all about censoring, it's
designed to illustrate "her woman jumping up and cartoonist Mark Knight has with part-Nigerian heritage about being bullied into
poor behavior on the day, down on a broken racket. the strongest support of his to a gorilla. conforming to a view of the
not about race." The umpire was shown tell- colleagues for his depiction Many years of outrage over world," he said.q