Summary
Pulitzer-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes resigned from The Washington Post after the paper refused to publish her cartoon depicting owner Jeff Bezos and other media leaders kneeling before Donald Trump.
Telnaes criticized the decision as censorship, calling it dangerous for press freedom.
The Post’s opinions editor, David Shipley, defended the move, citing redundancy with other content.
Telnaes’s resignation follows backlash over the Post’s recent editorial decisions, including avoiding endorsements for Kamala Harris, which led to mass subscription cancellations.
Telnaes has long been celebrated for her bold commentary and award-winning work.
Is this the original or did you create it?
It is from her post about it yeah.
https://anntelnaes.substack.com/p/why-im-quitting-the-washington-post
Yeah it says in the link it’s a rough draft of the cartoon that got rejected which is probably why it looks a bit shopped.
I think, from top down - Altman, besos, zuckerberg, ???, and mickey (did iger donate?).
Who is the bottom person though? Doesn’t look like him, but the Apple guy gave his protection money as well. And did Google bend the knee as well?
Okay, it was the LAtimes owner that also refused to endorse in editorial.
“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.”
Mickey is a reference to ABC, which is owned by Disney, cowing to Trump.
Tim Cook just recently donated, so maybe him? Or even if not, worth the mention
Edit: oops it’s late and I missed “Apple guy” or “tim Apple” as trumps 5yo brain can remember
Oof that’s a good one too.
MVP thanks x
Jeff, Zuck, is that Spez? And I’m not sure who’s puckering up with the lipstick.
I think it’s the open AI guy
The comic is on point, but she isn’t very good at caricature is she?
It’s a rough draft according to her substack.
Media being owned by a few rich people was and always has been dangerous for press freedom.
I can only really see workers co-ops striking the correct balance here. (Basically, editor makes decisions, when needed workers vote on whether to publish or not).
Capitalism is always the problem, and anti-democratic.
Voltaire never said that. He lived under a monarchy, so it wouldn’t have made sense if he did. That quote was made up by a neo nazi and falsely attributed to him.
And it’s completely bullshit, just phrased so people think it’s “old timey”, it’s always been an issue but more so since social media. People just believe anything with a Historical figure’s name at the end.
-William Shakespeare
I like big butts and I cannot lie
-George Washington
That was benjamin franklin
DJ Benji Frank
Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder
-Sir Mix-A-Lot
I fuck with that
-Oscar Wilde
Shakespeare predicted social media? He truly was a visionary.
Woosh
I understand the joke just fine but I don’t think you understood mine. That’s OK though, it wasn’t a very good one.
Still a good message though
That depends on how you define “not allowed to criticise”.
To the neo-Nazis who invented and popularized the phrase, it means “People calling me an asshole when I say bigoted shit.” They use it as part of their constant refrain that they’re being “censored” by people who refuse to give them a platform to spew their poison.
It is a good message, but one that can easily be twisted into something very dangerous if you’re not careful.
Interesting. I wasn’t familiar with the backstory, thanks!
Most truths are double edged, if not multiple edged, like throwing stars.
Gets so fucking old that there is always someone who will go out of their way to drag conversations down into negativity and mansplainingly remind everyone there’s some fucking reason we should have a problem with something even though right here in the immediate it’s hurting nobody. Just endless fucking vitriol.
that’s the point
Broken clock etc
Not really. You just interpreted it in a less shitty way than intended.
Some people see a half empty glass, others a half full glass. It’s a half glassed either way.
We must rise up against children with terminal illnesses.
I, for one, welcome our terminally ill child overlords.
Jonathan Swift has entered the chat
-Michael Scott
I wonder if the Post will elevate another, more pliant, cartoonist to take her place and draw about the news whilst careful to not skewer the powerful, or instead decide that this is about Innovation, and from now on, cartoons will be AI-generated?
Oh god, I could totally see them switching to AI cartoons. Bezos can write the prompts himself.
“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.”
It’s hard to make an argument that they are protecting Bezos if they already had 2 other articles criticizing him. But then why not just delay the cartoon?
Trump would never read the articles. But he would see the cartoon.
He’d have to have someone explain it to him though.
explain it to him
That’s not usually how he operates.
Exactly, delay it a few days if it’s “too similar”. Cop out answer.
The comment was super weasely. “On the same topic” could mean anything. Based on what he says, the articles don’t need to mention Bezos at all.
Editorial independence!
Not surprised they refused.
Well that just seems like she wanted to do it.
What?
