Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes has announced her resignation from The Washington Post after the outlet refused to publish a satirical cartoon targeting its owner, Jeff Bezos, and other tech magnates. The cartoon depicted Bezos, Amazon’s founder, alongside Mark Zuckerberg, Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, and Disney’s Mickey Mouse kneeling before former President Donald Trump as he eyes a return to the White House in 2024.
Telnaes expressed frustration with the unprecedented decision in a statement shared on Substack. “In all I have had editorial feedback and productive conversations – and some differences – about cartoons I have submitted for publication, but in all that time I’ve never had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at,” she wrote. The cartoon, she explained, highlighted how billionaire tech and media leaders seek favor with Trump, using visual metaphors to criticize their actions.
Response of Washington Post
David Shipley, The Washington Post’s Opinion Editor, defended the decision stating that the rejection stemmed from concerns about thematic repetition. “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,” Shipley explained. He denied any editorial bias and said that “the only bias was against repetition”, adding that he had encouraged Telnaes to reconsider her resignation.
Last month, Mr Bezos announced Amazon would donate $1m to Trump’s inauguration fund and make a $1m in-kind contribution. Mr Bezos also described Trump’s re-election victory as “an extraordinary political comeback” and dined with him at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
Her departure comes shortly after the newspaper faced backlash for blocking an editorial endorsement of Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 presidential elections. Telnaes described the situation as a “dangerous precedent for a free press,” emphasizing the importance of editorial independence.
Editorial Independence Controversy
Telnaes’ illustrious career includes winning the Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary in 2001 while at the Los Angeles Times. She was also a Pulitzer finalist in 2022, won the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Award in 2017, and became the first woman to achieve both honors.
“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,” Telnaes said. “While it isn’t uncommon for editorial page editors to object to visual metaphors within a cartoon if it strikes that editor as unclear or isn’t correctly conveying the message intended by the cartoonist, such editorial criticism was not the case regarding this cartoon,” she added.
Telnaes shared a rough draft of this cartoon in her Substack post. It depicted Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Patrick Soon-Shiong, and Mickey Mouse kneeling before Donald Trump with money bags.
