WaPo staffer resigns after paper spikes cartoon that jabbed billionaires cozying to Trump

[applegrove]

WaPo staffer resigns after paper spikes cartoon that jabbed billionaires cozying to Trump

Matthew Chapman
January 3, 2025 10:03PM ET

https://www.rawstory.com/washington-post-trump-2670737013/

"SNIP.............

"I’ve worked for the Washington Post since 2008 as an editorial cartoonist," wrote Ann Telnaes. "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. Until now."

The cartoon depicted a group of wealthy corporate executives making a religious-like offering of money to a hulking shrine of Trump.

"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," she noted.

"As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable," Telnaes concluded. "For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job. So I have decided to leave the Post. 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.'"

..............SNIP"

Here is her substack: https://anntelnaes.substack.com/p/why-im-quitting-the-washington-post?utm_campaign=posts-open-in-app&triedRedirect=true

Post by @dicktofel

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[Baitball Blogger]

1. What can be done to give that cartoon more exposure with the masses?

[applegrove]

2. I put up a link to the cartoon.

[Baitball Blogger]

3. It really needs to go mainstream.

[orleans]

5. keith olbermann posted about this on bluesky and pinned to the top of his feed

that's how i found this substack where she wrote:

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.

[img][/img]

[dalton99a]

13. +1

[JoseBalow]

16. That tiny hand tho!

[orleans]

20. omg! i didn't even notice that! thanks for pointing it out

[arthritisR_US]

27. She fecking nailed it!

[orleans]

9. also putting this up on fb in a little political group & sharing it on bluesky nt

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. If you click on the link that has the word 'substack' in it, that will show you the entire cartoon.

It's definitely worth seeing! You will also be able to read her whole editorial about this cartoon.

[orleans]

6. i just posted the cartoon above your post. :) (and the paragraph before it from her substack) nt

[applegrove]

10. Great!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. You beat me to it, and yes, I saw it, after I'd done my thing! No worries, my dear orleans.

[ShazzieB]

25. Kudos to Ann Telnaes for giving the finger to WaPo!

Blocking that cartoon was a dick move. Telnaes is brilliant, and I love her work. She's too way good to put up with crap like that.

Also, a pox on billionaire owners of newspapers controlling what they publish and their ability to endorse candidates! That's the dickiest part of the whole whole thing!

[spanone]

7. K&R

Thank you Ann Telnaes. A true patriot.

[newdeal2]

8. Cancel culture - where's the outrage?

[blogslug]

11. Damnit

Ann Telnaes is a legend.

"Democracy Dies in Darkness"

It sure as hell does.

[usonian]

14. New banner.

[Silent Type]

15. Kudos for sticking to her beliefs. However, I don't want everyone to quit so that we are just left with

trump apologists. Even if one has to temper their opinions a bit to get a point across, I’d rather it be someone who leans away from trumpsters.

I’ll watch for Telnaes‘ cartoons in future.

[W_HAMILTON]

26. I do. Many have already found jobs elsewhere, at outlets with the reputation that The Washington Post USED to have.

Those new outlets will rise up and take the place of the Trump apologist outlets that are being abandoned. The reason why people flocked to news organizations like The Washington Post to begin with will instead flock to these other sources (e.g., The Atlantic, The Guardian, etc.) when their trusted journalists and other commentators join them.

Outside of its storied history -- which means little now when they have abandoned so many principles that created that storied history to begin with -- there's nothing special about The Washington Post that can't be duplicated by other news outlets, especially if those that are interested in upholding democratic values continue to flee them and join other more principled new organizations instead.

[Initech]

17. Uh oh, independent thought alert. Cults don't like that.

[slumcamper]

18. Anyone know how to start and promote a "Go Fund Me" (or similar) effort? n/t

[applegrove]

19. She has a substack. You could subscribe. Here it is:

https://anntelnaes.substack.com/p/why-im-quitting-the-washington-post?utm_campaign=posts-open-in-app&triedRedirect=true

[IzzaNuDay]

21. Just another reason why WaPo is losing subscribers.

I was reading WaPo when it had a modicum of credibility and accountability (the Watergate years). Now it seems to be fellating the felon.

I ended my decades old subscription after few months ago. WaPo may very well go to the newspaper graveyard this year and I will shed no tears. Especially when Bozos owns the show!

[applegrove]

22. May it serve as a warning for the right wing takeover of

liberal media. Of course Besoz wasn't a right winger when he bought the paper.

[IzzaNuDay]

23. Like MSNBC is now vulnerable.

I would not be surprised if the felon is propping up some oligarch to buy MSNBC and turn it into a propaganda channel.

[applegrove]

24. MSNBC viewers would skedaddle to other places in

no time.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

28. The Borowitz Report - Democracy Dies in Bezos

I agree with Andy Borowitz. Bezos and the Washington Post have sold out on defending democracy
https://bsky.app/profile/sharyn420.bsky.social/post/3lewl5tndok2a

Link to tweet

https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/democracy-dies-in-bezos

Ann Telnaes, Pulitzer-winning cartoonist for the Washington Post since 2008, quit the paper this week after her editor killed her cartoon depicting WaPo owner Jeff Bezos and other craven billionaires debasing themselves before Donald J. Trump.

This act of censorship, of course, isn’t an outlier: anticipatory obedience to fascism has risen ominously in recent months. It began with WaPo and the Los Angeles Times spiking endorsements of Kamala Harris, only to be outdone by Disney, who gifted Trump $15 million instead of fighting his flimsy defamation claim in court. Oh, and let’s not forget Joe and Mika’s humiliating field trip to Mar-a-Lago.

I don’t know Ms. Telnaes but I admire her work, integrity, and courage. I’m publishing the rough draft of her cartoon above in the hopes that you’ll share it. If enough people do, it will reach a larger audience than if her WaPo editor had had the cojones to run it. Actually, given how many subscribers have fled the paper in recent months, reaching a larger audience than the Washington Post isn’t a daunting task.

Love,
Andy