CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1    BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
    Essential, communication is the root of world creation. It is the basic of human existence living and interrelating. It is also the socio cultural system of the people of the world. According to Mac Bride (1981 pg 3) says “Communication maintains and animates life, it is the motor and expression of social activity and civilization. It creates a common pool of ideas, strengthens the felling of togetherness through exchange of messages and translates, reflecting every emotion, and need from the humblest task of human survival to manifestation of creativity or destruction”.
    Communication cements our social interaction with other people. It is a living mechanism which links together any organism but when there is a breakdown in communication, the organisms also breaks.
    The need for communication is at least tantamount to the need for information. By getting people informed of the happenings in other part of the country and the globe, newspaper helps to broaden the people’s horizon and in this corollary serve as a force of cohesion or as an internet for binding together the different human communities.
    It is therefore, not debatable, to say or to conclude that it is this dynamic attempt to inform the people and broaden their horizon through newspaper; which has over the years brought about the use of cartoons, pictures and other illustrations to supplement and complement the printed or written words.
    Thus, it has been observed that not only written words serve as a means of conveying information to the general public. Some other means have been closely observed, these have brought about the inception of “Cartooning as a means of communication or especially in newspaper journalism.
    With these observations, it has made us to carryout research on the “Importance of cartooning in newspaper journalism”.
Cartoon, according to chambers twentieth century dictionary, is “a comic or satirical drawing commenting on current events or politics”. Viewed from what it does rather than what it is, cartooning may be summed up as “graphic”.
Cartooning reflects social attitude and provide a vehicle through which people can voice feeling for which there is no socially acceptable or easy accessible outlet.
It provides a vehicle for expressing man different kinds of attitudes. It dramatically cuts through defenses, conveys, collective surreptitious approval or disapproval tackles taboo subjects and expresses ideas very simple and compelling. The purpose of cartooning is not totally different from Harold Lasswell’s functions of the press summed up this surveillance, correlation and transmission of cultural heritage.
Cartoonings, for example are basically meant to bring about social changes, most times combine other functions such as education information and entertainment.
In summation, cartoon is a good sample of an illustration in newspaper and as an illustration, it gives aesthetics to newspaper pages.
1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
    Over the years, cartooning has been serving as a means of communication. Once inner most feelings on a particular issue is expressed through cartoon illustrations, but in the main time, it has been observed that cantoon treatment has been relatively poor as it is regarded as thing for the children because it contains much of drawing, sketches and gesture illustrations.
    Hence, this study is set to fact find through research reason (s) behind this notion and therefore, suggesting a tentative solution to the problem.
1.3    RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
    The objectives of this study is to access the importance of cartooning in newspaper journalism as a journalistic tool used for communication and how affective cartoon messages are to its audiences.