An illustration of news at war

How a graphic novel paints an all-too-real picture of future journalism, global conflict

INTERVIEW. Nigeria, Venezuela and Iran have cut off oil to the U.S. President John McCain has cut U.S. forces in Iraq to 10,000, but refuses to pull them out. Meanwhile, ratings for the Iraq war have sunken so low that networks have pulled out their high-priced talent in favor of bloggers.

Welcome to Anthony Lappe’s 2011. The executive editor of GNN.tv, the web site for the Guerrilla News Network, and a former New York Magazine, New York Times and Salon.com writer, Lappe decided to take on the developing political landscape and the battle between traditional media and citizen journalism in his new graphic novel “Shooting War.” A mix of both biting satire and dark prognostication written last year, the book has pulled closer to current events than Lappe and illustrator Dan Goldman’s cell-shaded vision had ever intended. Told through voice of reluctant blogger-turned-correspondent Jimmy Burns, “Shooting War” draws a bleak picture of the future of both media and global affairs, with redemption coming only through the lessons of the past.

Considering the gravity of the issues you tackle in this book, why did you opt to present this story as a graphic novel?
“Shooting War” is almost a culmination of everything I’ve done in the news business. I worked for a television news agency called WTN, so I really saw how the satellite news business worked and I wrote freelance for the New York Times, among others. I’d never actually written any fiction, though. I wanted to write something that satirized the last 15 years of my career, so I was originally writing this as a screenplay for a film. I, literally, was at a bar one night with a friend who was a huge comics fan, and he convinced me that, visually, this would be a great comic. That’s how it came about. At Guerrilla News Network, we produced a music video for Eminem for a song he did called “Mosh” and that was a huge inspiration visually. I loved what the animator was able to do. I had this idea of combining photorealism and the comic look. I was able to find this artist Dan Goldman on Craigslist after I put a three-line ad up that said “Documentary filmmaker looking to do comic on Iraq.” I saw Dan’s stuff and knew immediately that he was meant to do it.

Did you and Dan catch any flak for using the photos with his illustrations?
I give him a ton of credit, because you know how the comic world can be. The comics guy in “The Simpsons” is not that much of a caricature — there’s a lot of sniping and turf guarding. Dan works in all digital, so that puts him in an area where most comic artists don’t consider him an artist because there’s no ink on paper.

Given the 24-hour news networks’ halfhearted approach to citizen journalism, how close are we to having someone like Jimmy Burns on air?
What I’ve seen so far with what the networks have been doing, all they are trying to do is get some free hurricane footage. Basically, they’re not really developing any sophisticated kind of citizen-journalism program. All they want to do is get free video from people and upload it to their site. The premise behind “Shooting War” and behind Jimmy Burns getting hired by Global News is that Iraq in 2011 is just another battleground in a lager war on terror. A lot of networks see, at that point, that ratings aren’t really good for news in Iraq and start cutting back and bringing their star reporters home, so there’s an opportunity for a guy like Jimmy Burns to go in there. I could see the economics of the global news industry turning to a younger, cheaper, smaller crew of one. The economics drive the news industry, and you see that in celebrity coverage and the half-baked attempts at citizen journalism.

Considering that networks were able to use blogger footage of recent protests and violence in Burma basically for free, how much longer can the networks get away with not paying for citizen journalism?
It’s a trend, but I also see the writing on the wall. Just as we’ve seen the decentralization of the power of the newspaper with the rise of blogs in the print area, we’re going to see the same thing in video as people become more sophisticated in producing quality content and the content becomes easier to shoot, edit and upload. The technology is getting cheaper — you can get an HD-compatible camera for $1,000 — but I’m a lot more optimistic than most people who fear consolidation of the media networks. I think there are big issues in terms of ‘Net neutrality and the attempt by carriers to restrict access or make people pay extra for full access to the Web. I think people will rebel against it, and the future of media will be more decentralized. That being said, “Shooting War” is also a critique of blogging and blogging culture. Jimmy Burns finds himself ill equipped to deal with the realities of being a reporter, both ethically and emotionally. I have a deep respect for the traditions of journalism and the ethics I was taught at Columbia [University]. Also, I feel most of the best reporting comes from traditional mainstream reporters risking their lives. There are a lot of great alternative press reporters, but they just don’t have the backing to do serious investigative journalism that mainstream news organizations can. 

You make Dan Rather into somewhat of a hero toward the end of this book. Do you think people will come away with a respect for both the grizzled mainstream journalist and the blogger?
I hope so. It’s not a screed against the mainstream media and it’s not glorifying the new citizen journalism movement. The whole thing with Dan Rather came about when it was a serialized Web comic last summer, and I just threw in Rather as a cameo to tell a parable about death in Samarra — which, when I was in Iraq, a friend of mine who was a Belgian war correspondent told me this story right before we went to Samarra. I thought, “Boy, wouldn’t it be great for him to tell this story” and be like an Obi-Wan Kenobi for Jimmy Burns. I’ve never met the guy, but I think he’s a fascinating and kind of funny guy.

Has it shocked you just how close your book has come to reality thus far?
It’s eerie. As I was leaving our book launch — I’m a total newshound and I’m always checking out headlines — I clicked on the Drudge Report and the big, red headline was “Chavez calls for oil war against the West.” That was one of our setup pieces in the book: In 2011, Chavez teams up with Iran and there’s an Islamic junta coup in Nigeria, and the three of them form an oil blockade against the West and trigger a recession in the U.S. A lot of things were half jokes and satirical metaphors, but it’s odd how many have sort of come true. The biggest thing in terms of the situation in Iraq is when, in the book, President McCain orders a “de-Shiafication” of the Iraqi army because he realizes we just ended up arming an entire army of Shia extremists with ties to Iran — which didn’t seem like a good idea. They try to bring back in “secular nationalists,” who are really just kind of reconstituted Baathists — which is essentially what is happening in the Anbar province. The whole surge is based on the premise of rearming and teaming up with Sunnis against Shia militias and foreign jihadists in Iraq. That was written as a joke last year and, basically, the whole strategy in Iraq this summer was based upon it.