Pulitzer prize winning cartoonist for The Washington Post, Ann Telnaes, has spoken out about her decision to leave the daily newspaper after having a cartoon depicting Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Open AI’s Sam Altman, The Los Angeles Times Patrick Soon-Shiong and Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse ‘killed’ by an editor.
In a post to Substack, Telnaes explains ever since working for The Post, she’s ‘never’ had a cartoon ‘killed’.
Granted, she’s had ‘editorial feedback and productive conversations – and some differences – about cartoons’ she’s submitted, but none that have been banned from going out completely because of ‘who or what’ she chooses ‘to aim [her] pen at’ – ‘until now’.
But what could’ve been so bad about a cartoon of Jeff Bezos?
Ann Telnaes has quit her job at The Washington Post (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The cartoon
Well, Telnaes continues: “The cartoon that was killed criticizes the billionaire tech and media chief executives who have been doing their best to curry favor with incoming President-elect Trump.
“There have been multiple articles recently about these men with lucrative government contracts and an interest in eliminating regulations making their way to Mar-a-lago.
“The group in the cartoon included Mark Zuckerberg/Facebook & Meta founder and CEO, Sam Altman/AI CEO, Patrick Soon-Shiong/LA Times publisher, the Walt Disney Company/ABC News, and Jeff Bezos/Washington Post owner.”
The cartoon shows the billionaires bent down on their knees before a statue of Trump, holding up bags of money, Mickey mouse completely slumped on the floor.
But why was it ‘killed’ and others not?
Telnaes explains sometimes ‘visual metaphors within a cartoon’ are objected to, given tweaks or suggested changes if they come across ‘unclear’ to the editor what ‘message’ they are intending to give out. However, the cartoonist argues ‘such editorial criticism was not the case regarding this cartoon’.
She continues: “[It’s] never [been] because of the point of view inherent in the cartoon’s commentary. That’s a game changer…and dangerous for a free press.”
While Telnaes acknowledges it could be argued a company has ‘the right to expect employees to adhere to what’s good for the company’, she notes when it comes to ‘news organizations that have public obligations and who are obliged to nurture a free press in a democracy,’ it’s different.
She continues: “Owners of such press organizations are responsible for safeguarding that free press – and trying to get in the good graces of an autocrat-in-waiting will only result in undermining that free press.
“As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job.”
Telnaes reveals she has subsequently decided to leave the Post.
Jeff Bezos was depicted in the cartoon (Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for The New York Times)
As a member of the Advisory board for the Geneva based Freedom Cartoonists Foundation and a former board member of Cartoonists Rights, Telnaes believes ‘editorial cartoonists are vital for civic debate and have an essential role in journalism.’ Some of her overseas colleagues having risked ‘their livelihoods and sometimes even their lives to expose injustices and hold their countries’ leaders accountable’.
The cartoonist resolves: “I doubt my decision will cause much of a stir and that it will be dismissed because I’m just a cartoonist. But I will not stop holding truth to power through my cartooning, because as they say, ‘Democracy dies in darkness.'”
David Shipley, The Post’s opinions editor, said in a statement as quoted by The New York Times that he ‘disagree[s]’ with Telnaes’ ‘interpretation of events’.
He continued: “Not every editorial judgment is a reflection of a malign force. My decision was guided by the fact that we had just published a column on the same topic as the cartoon and had already scheduled another column – this one a satire – for publication. The only bias was against repetition.”
