This morning, a BBC Radio5Live feature ran a feature on child pornographers using drawings to avoid the law on the distribution and viewing of obscene photography.
The presenter described such images as ‘cartoons’. Perhaps he meant drawings or simple visual communication, or even art, but to be honest, the feature was so badly constructed it was difficult to know exactly what was meant.
However, the casual use of the term cartoon felt like the denigration of a trade; cartoon equals grubby, worthless, evil.
Clip available – 2hrs 22 minutes into Radio5Live for Wednesday morning – 28th May 2008 available on the BBC’s IPlayer.