The US cartoonist and Pulitzer Prize winner Ann Telnaes has left the Washington Post in a dispute over one of her drawings. The editorial team rejected a draft that shows, among others, Mark Zuckerberg from the Facebook group Meta and Amazon founder and “Washington Post” owner Jeff Bezos with bulging money bags and kneeling at the foot of a statue of the future US President Donald Trump, writes Telnaes in a statement. She wanted to criticize how billionaire tech and media bosses are trying to endear themselves to Trump.
“To be clear: There have been cases where sketches have been rejected or revisions requested – but never because of the point of view contained in the cartoon’s commentary. This is a watershed moment… and dangerous for a free press,” wrote Telnaes, who says she has worked for the Washington Post since 2008.
Opinion editor contradicts the representation
David Shipley, an opinion editor at the newspaper, disputed Telnaes’ account. “Not every editorial judgment is an expression of a malicious power,” said Shipley in a statement that was available to the German Press Agency in Washington. He decided against the cartoon because other columns addressed the same topic. He wanted to avoid repetitions.
The Washington Post has been owned by billionaire Bezos since 2013. He recently assured that he had no personal interests in the medium. The reason for this was criticism within the editorial team and among the readership before the US election in November of Bezos’ decision against an election recommendation that had already been written for Trump’s opponent Kamala Harris. Such opinion pieces have a tradition in the USA – not just at the Washington Post.
