“Lately, I have felt that the work we do as newspaper cartoonists has seen a new dawn. Personally, I’m noticing more attention being paid to my work now that Trump has been elected president of the US. It is motivating to realise that what we do actually make a difference, commented Marvin Halleraker, newspaper cartoonist at Aftenposten when he accepted the Fritt Ord Prize for 2025 at the Oslo Opera House on Tuesday, 20 May.

The award ‘goes to three representatives of Norwegian satire art’:/nb/aktuelt/fritt-ords-pris-2025-til-tre-tegnere for challenging the public with their criticism of power and keen humour: May Linn Clement, Marvin Halleraker and Morten Mørland.

“There is little joy in constantly drawing Trump, Putin and other leaders of that ilk.”

”Yet it will never be boring. We cartoonists help to deconstruct power. This makes our job meaningful," remarked Halleraker.

Self-censorship is creeping in
Ukraine. Gaza. Sudan. Democracy under pressure. The climate crisis. The three prize laureates agreed that there is a lot of material available to cartoonists in 2025. As always. They mentioned how the controversy over the Muhammad caricatures in 2005 changed the profession of satirical artists forever.

In this day and age, self-censorship has become a challenge.

“The so-called woke movement has put the issues in sharper contrast – for better or for worse. Some of it was good, and necessary. At the same time, the danger of self-censorship was real. Social media was able mobilise so overwhelmingly that even the New York Times succumbed to the pressure," reported Halleraker.

The chair of Fritt Ord’s Board also addressed the danger of self-censorship, even in Norway.

“The complicating thing about self-censorship is that it is insidious.

“It builds up over time and is often hard to even recognise in oneself," said Chair of the Board Grete Brochmann in this year’s speech to the winners: /nb/priser/fritt-ords-pris/may-linn-clement-marvin-halleraker-og-morten-morland/tale-til-prisvinnerne-grete-brochmann.

“Self-censorship refers to ‘current norms’, ‘the spirit of the times’ or what is considered ‘politically correct’,” she said, pointing out how Aftenposten used its editorial responsibility during the covid pandemic to stop a cartoon by Halleraker that the editors feared could be interpreted as discriminating against immigrants.

“The periods after 2005 and 2015 have highlighted a major paradox: In our part of the world, we have witnessed both an increased awareness of the importance of freedom of expression and verification of the perpetrator’s veto. While offence engagement evolved as a bulwark against discrimination and exclusion, it risks ending up in the same predicament. In today’s international situation, the far right is gaining momentum, and sensitivity towards vulnerable minorities is unlikely to be assigned top priority. The list of banned words is changing. Opportunism is no longer only negative. Cancellation and counter-cancellation," she said.

The danger of censorship and cancellation
Yet censorship continues to be a risk.

“In recent years in the US, we have seen prominent newspaper cartoonists being sacked for challenging their own power structure. The traditionally liberal newspapers The New York Times and The Washington Post have both bowed to political pressure and fired newspaper cartoonists.

Elsewhere in the world, there are long traditions of the oppression and persecution of satire artists, and many have had to flee their home country’s regimes," recounted Grete Brochmann in her speech to the prize laureates.

Morten Mørland was himself recently involved in a censorship controversy in London.

“On the same day as this award was announced, I was told that ‘Licence to Offend’, a cartoon exhibition I was part of in London, had been cancelled just hours before it was scheduled to open.

“The owners of the premises were afraid that someone could potentially be offended. It was as comical as it was unbelievable, Mørland said in his speech.

“In retrospect, the upside was the reaction. People were shocked. Offers from other galleries poured in.”

He issued a warning anyway.

“The over-cautiousness that led to the exhibition being cancelled is not unique. We need look no further than to America to see how quickly things can change. I have previously compared newspaper cartoonists to the canaries in the coal mines, but I think the Fritt Ord jury says it best in its justification: ‘the genre illustrates the challenges of freedom of expression in concentrated form’.”

The winners emphasised that it was an honour to be chosen to represent their profession.

Mørland also added that it was somewhat ironic to be awarded the Fritt Ord Prize, “since words are generally buried far inside me. They are not really my thing. On a good day for me at work, I don’t need to use words at all!”

Satire lays power bare
Brochmann reminded the audience that 2025 marks the 20th anniversary of the caricature controversy and the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo.

“In presenting this award, Fritt Ord wishes to emphasise drawings as a form of expression. Drawings are like wordless comments, and they can have a greater impact than words. They communicate effectively, sometimes transcendantly in tense situations. Satirical drawings have exposed power, double standards and hypocrisy, while playing an important role throughout the history of democracy. Between free art and journalism, newspaper cartoons help to enlighten, amuse and entertain the public," she continued.

In her speech, Brochmann quoted cartoonist Siri Dokken, saying that a newspaper drawing “lifts the essence up to the readers and can compress an entire narrative into an eye-catching instant”, at the same time as writer Erle Marie Sørheim points out that the genre is “an endangered art form”.

Not placing any bets on cartoonists
The latter is also due to the media themselves.

There are fewer and fewer satirical cartoons being printed in Norway. This is not primarily because of censorship, but because many editorial boards are de-prioritising drawing.

It doesn’t help that editors cry crocodile tears because they can’t afford to prioritise satire, said Halleraker, who therefore hoped that “the Fritt Ord Prize can be a signal to Norwegian newspaper publishers”.

May Linn Clement ‘had the same request.

“A meal without salt is tame and tasteless. A newspaper without satire is like food without salt. So to all newspaper editors out there: Have a salt shaker on staff!”