Another Approach to News

Drawing on the edge

News is being tossed at us every second, on every phone, tablet, monitor and paper.

What is news?

It’s weather, traffic, politics, culture, accidents, murders, tragedies, new things, old things that have gone away, celebrities, movie news, technology, things to worry about. News outlets try to get at what they think you need, what they think is the most important, that is useful… what their advertisers will like. They try to think what you will want.

News is a scramble for your attention.

I love the news. I love politics. I love knowing what people are doing, what new things are being discovered, what our politicians are trying to do, or what they are not doing. I love hearing about people who inspire. I want to hear about people in trouble across the globe.

I love to draw the news.

I draw not only the obvious, I draw what isn’t seen. What’s on the side, what’s behind the scene, to the left of center, or right of center.

Who is setting up the coffee, who is operating the cameras, what does the bank of tech experts look like, who is taking out the trash? People on the subway, in a store.

These things are news, but they are also not news in the sense we have come to think. Seeing on the edges of things rounds out an understanding of what is going on. It tells us a story that is deeper than just the main event, a narrative that enriches the loudness of what we are being told to focus on.

Pretend that you’re watching the Impeachment hearings and wonder: who brings the…