A cartoonist at the Washington Post, Ann Telnaes, has resigned after the opinion editors rejected a cartoon mocking Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO and owner of the Washington Post. Telnaes sees this as a threat to press freedom.
The cartoon depicted figures such as Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg (of Facebook and Meta), Sam Altman (of OpenAI), and Mickey Mouse, representing Disney-ABC, bowing with money bags before a large figure. According to Telnaes, the cartoon criticized tech and media companies trying to curry favor with President-elect Donald Trump, whose owners have lucrative government contracts.
She stated this rejection was different because it was based on the cartoon’s viewpoint, calling it a “gamechanger.” Telnaes highlighted how press freedom is defended by risking lives in other countries and that press organization owners should support free press. The American Association of Editorial Cartoonists supported Telnaes, accusing the paper of “political cowardice” and urging fellow cartoonists to share the image using #StandWithAnn.
The responsible editor told AP that the cartoon was rejected not for its stance but because a column on the same topic had just been published, with another forthcoming.
Source: NOS