Editorial cartoonist Anne Telnes
Courtesy of Anne Telnes
A The Washington Post The cartoonist resigned from her role at the newspaper, saying her bosses banned the publication of a satirical cartoon depicting billionaires, including one who resembles the Post's owner. Jeff Bezoskneeling before the president-elect Donald Trump.
Anne TelnesThe Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist said in a blog post on Friday Leave the paper After rejecting the drawing. “This was the first time at The Washington Post that a cartoon had been killed off because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at,” Telnis wrote.
A rough drawing of the cartoon, posted on the Telnaes Substack blog, shows several men kneeling in front of a larger man in a suit and long tie, representing Trump. Telnaes wrote that the similarities are there Meta platforms CEO Mark ZuckerbergOpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Los Angeles Times publisher Patrick Soon-Shiong, and Bezos. Three men carrying bags of money. There is also a drawing of the cartoon character Mickey Mouse, which represents Walt DisneyABC News.
A satirical drawing of Washington Post cartoonist Anne Tilnis, who resigned after being rejected.
Courtesy of Anne Telnes
The newspaper rejected the graphic outright, with no suggestions for possible changes, Telnis told CNBC in an email.
David Shipley, editorial page editor for The Washington Post, said in a statement that the cartoon was rejected because of its similarity to columns in the newspaper, not because of who it targeted.
“I respect Anne Tilnis and all she has done for The Washington Post. But I have to disagree with her interpretation of events. Not every editorial judgment is a reflection of a malevolent force. My decision was guided by the fact that we had just published a column that addressed the same topic as the cartoon, and it We had already scheduled another column – this one a satire – and the only bias was against repetition.”
The cartoonist's departure comes amid controversy over how the media and corporate executives treat him Trump was treatedEither before or after the November elections.
the The Washington Post I mentioned that Bezos rose A planned endorsement of Trump's opponent Kamala Harris Through the newspaper before the presidential elections. In the Los Angeles Times, Soon-Shiong also decided that the newspaper should do so Withholding any endorsement In the presidential race, which led to the resignation of several members of the editorial board.
Meanwhile, ABC News settled a defamation lawsuit with Trump over it 15 million dollarswhich drew criticism from some media law experts who believed the news organization had a strong case.
Bezos and Zuckerberg, through Meta, plan to donate $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund, The Wall Street Journal reported this last monthHe was among the many billionaires who have met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home since his election victory. Multiple outlets report that Altman is from OpenAI as well Donate one million dollars To the opening box.
Sin. Elizabeth WarrenD-Massachusetts, Weighed in On Telnaes' resignation on
Telnaes' departure is the latest of many internal changes at the newspaper. Publisher and CEO Will Lewis took over the paper last year and clashed with the newsroom, as it happened Reported by NPR. Several of the paper's senior editors have departed since Lewis took over.
Telnis won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 2001. She wrote on her blog that she had worked at the newspaper since 2008.
