“Journaleux,” (Journalists)

“Journaleux,” (Journalists)

Psst… !, 19 November 1898

Journalists played a crucial role in forming the public’s opinions, as the immediate response to Émile Zola’s “j’Accuse” demonstrates. However, the chorus of intellectuals defending Zola threatened anti-Dreyfusard writers and journalists whose livelihood depended on slandering the Captain and his supporters. In this sketch by the famous anti-Dreyfusard Caran d’Ache, the bohemian journalist of the Left is depicted as a dandy opportunist, riding the wave of opinion. He confides that his crisp new shirt was bought not with an inheritance, but thanks to his investment in this new cause. You too, he tells his friend, can look this good, and all it takes is peppering your prose with words like “innocent,” “martyr,” and “hero.”

Caran d’Ache [Emmanuel Poiré]