Washington Post’s cartoonist Ann Telnaes submitted her resignation after the editorial web page editor rejected a cartoon she created, which humorously focused tech moguls for his or her ‘sycophantic conduct’ towards President-elect Donald Trump. The satire reportedly additionally included Amazon founder and publication proprietor Jeff Bezos.
WaPo was earlier blocked from endorsing Kamala Harris over Donald Trump throughout the forty seventh U.S. presidential election. The resolution noticed mass resignations from the editorial workforce and plenty of employees members strolling out.
Jeff Bezos cartoon will get axed; cartoonist resigns
The cartoon, which depicted Bezos alongside different company leaders, was impressed by their go to to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property which has turn out to be a well-liked vacation spot of MAGA leaders and their mega donations to his inauguration fund.
As reported by NPR, regardless of submitting her cartoon earlier than Christmas, it was finally pulled from publication. Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes, who has been with the Washington Post since 2008, voiced her frustration over being prevented from commenting on vital points by her art work.
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In the cartoon, Telnaes depicted Jeff Bezos together with different tech moguls, kneeling earlier than a statue that resembled Donald Trump.
The cartoon and Its message
The satire in query allegedly portrayed Bezos and different tech giants like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Los Angeles Times proprietor Patrick Soon-Shiong. The cartoon was meant to criticise these media and tech executives for his or her makes an attempt to “curry favour ”with the previous president. “I’ve had editorial suggestions and productive conversations – and a few variations – about cartoons I’ve submitted for publication, however in all that point I’ve by no means had a cartoon killed due to who or what I selected to intention my pen at ..till now,” Telnaes wrote in a web based publish on the Substack saying her exit.
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“To be clear, there have been situations the place sketches have been rejected or revisions requested, however by no means due to the viewpoint inherent within the cartoon’s commentary. That’s a gamechanger … and harmful for a free press,” she added.
Editorial response and controversy
Telnaes’ resignation comes simply months after The Washington Post and Bezos confronted backlash over the choice to forestall its editorial workforce from publishing a deliberate endorsement of Kamala Harris. Both WaPo and LA Times confronted large subscriber cancellations in response to their perceived “bias” towards Trump.
In response to the Cartoonist’s exit, the publication’s opinions editor David Shipley defended the paper’s resolution, explaining that they’d already revealed an identical column and one other satire on the identical subject. Speaking to NY Times they stated, “Not each editorial judgment is a mirrored image of a malign pressure.” Shipley continued, “My resolution was guided by the truth that we had simply revealed a column on the identical subject because the cartoon and had already scheduled one other column – this one a satire – for publication.”