Hi readers!

This week, we finished reading Joe Sacco’s comic book Safe Area Gorazde. As an American journalist, Joe Sacco went to Gorazde during and after the Bosnia. In the book, he presents the individual experience of the victims and the damaged town with realistic comic style. In this blog, I’d like to talk about the role of journalist presented in Joe Sacco’s works and in society.

Joe Sacco portraits himself as a man with cartoonish face and thick glasses. I never found his eyes presented in the book. His appearance in the book looks foolish and ugly sometimes: when he went to party, his face is sweaty and his mouth is drooling (page 8). I think he portraits himself that way is to remind readers that journalists are normal people too. Although they can go to the scene that many readers can’t get to, the information conveyed by them is based on their perspectives. When I was reading the book, I found that Joe Sacco was trying to present multiple perspectives from different individuals. I believe that’s his way to be more “objective”.

Joe Sacco’s book reminds me of a Chinese journalist, Chai Jing. In her book, she writes about her experience of interviewing a little boy whose elder sister just committed suicide. After the interview, Chai Jing helped wipe the boy’s tears. This scene was shown to the audience. Some critics argue that this is a very unprofessional behaviour, since her emotion shouldn’t be shown because their emotional behaviour can affect audience’s understanding of the fact. Chai Jing said the thing that’s important isn’t whether her emotion was shown in front of audience but whether her emotion serves purpose.

In my perspective, I can understand Chai Jing’s behaviour and I believe her emotion was true, but I don’t think her emotional behaviour should be shown in front of audience. I believe that will affect audience’s understanding. Also, I think part of Safe Area Gorazde portrays Joe Sacco’s experience of an American journalist in Gorazde instead of the truth and fact of the war itself because Joe Sacco already got involved in victims’ life and became one part of Gorazde.

I admire those two journalists because of the way they dedicate themselves to their career. And, I think it’s important for journalist to feel the interviewees’ feeling and present it to the readers, but it’s also important to include opinions from different perspectives, because it will make the news more objective. I think it will be better if Joe Sacco can include Serbs’ opinions in his book.