There is something of a kerfuffle over political cartoonist Ann Telnaes’s resignation from the Washington Post. Here’s her account:
I’ve worked for the Washington Post since 2008 as an editorial cartoonist. 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 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.
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. To be clear, there have been instances where sketches have been rejected or revisions requested, but never because of the point of view inherent in the cartoon’s commentary. That’s a game changer…and dangerous for a free press.
Her post includes the cartoon in question. David Shipley, the editor who killed the cartoon, saw it differently. He says he killed it because it was boring and repetitive.
My bet would be that, if the cartoon had not included a caricature of Jeff Bezos, the cartoon would not have been killed, the message being don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
Back in high school you might have been taught that Galileo was imprisoned because he taught that the earth revolved around the sun and not the other way around as the Church taught but that’s not exactly what happened. What actually happened was that Galileo wrote a book, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. The book included a character lampooning the present pope, Urban VIII, as a fool supporting the geocentric model. Urban had earlier expressed openness on the subject as long as Galileo steered clear of biblical interpretation but being made a fool of by his pal Galileo was a bridge too far. So Galileo was imprisoned.
Once again the moral is don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
Had I not known in advance the cartoon depicted Bezos, I would not have known it was him. I’m still not sure who the other ones are, except for Mickey. Mickey did no wrong.
I recognized Bezos and Cook.
Perhaps that’s the reason the cartoon was killed. Don’t mess with the Mouse.
Recantation of Galileo Galilei in 1633:
She had included Bezos in prior cartoons. I think this time the concern was that Trump is clearly looking for revenge.
Steve
Thinking about it; are we overinterpreting and under-interpreting it all.
The Washington Post has clearly been trying to slim down; because it is losing money at levels beyond what Bezos is willing to subsidize (and its gotten worse with his direction to be less nakedly partisan). Hence the directive that employees work at the office 5 days a week.
That’s the context to the fact an editorial cartoonist is a job uniquely vulnerable to Generative AI. I could create a half decent image with a similar theme with like a 20 word prompt to Grok (OpenAI and Gemini refused to execute my prompt). Instead of the spicy take of forcing her out due to politics; what about this is a diversion from the quiet elimination of a whole line of work with GenAI subscriptions.
Guess we will know if the Washington Post hires a replacement.
Ms. Telnaes has been quite open about her motivations for quitting.
Shipley has been equally open about his motivation for killing the cartoon. I take their statements at face value.
I think the editors probably see it as win-win.
If you take everyone’s words at face value then no one is ever guilty of any crime as they all can claim innocence. You have to evaluate their words for truth and believability. In context, CEO after CEO is traveling to Mecca (Mar-a-Lago) to explain why they shouldn’t have tariffs on their products or why they need special tax relief. In context Trump has claimed he will go after media companies. Seems pretty likely that companies are trying to keep out of the crosshairs of his revenge. Look at Facebook.
Steve
I question your ability to read minds. That people say things are actual facts. Anything else is a supposition and may well be founded on preconceived notions.