Pulitzer-Winning "Wash Post" Cartoonist Quits After Bezos Paper Kills Latest

Ann Telnaes explains, and see cartoon.

Greg Mitchell is the author of more than a dozen books including “The Tunnels” “Tricky Dick and the Pink Lady” and “The Campaign of the Century” and now writer/director of three award-winning films aired via PBS, including “Atomic Cover-up” and “Memorial Day Massacre.” You can still subscribe to this newsletter for free. Watch the trailer for his new film “The Atomic Bowl: Football at Ground Zero & The Forgotten Bomb.”

As you may have noticed, I re-publish a great number of provocative editorial cartoons here almost every week. One of my favorite creators, who makes frequent appearances, is Ann Telnaes, who has worked at the Washington Post since 2008 and earned high honors, including a Pulitzer.

Yesterday she quit the embattled paper after one of her cartoons was killed for the first time. Then she wrote a Substack about it and posted the rough of the cartoon, with Post owner Jeff Bezos clearly visible. Here is an excerpt from her explanation and the evil cartoon below that—feel free to share far and wide! (Update: she has now been interviewed for NPR.

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….

As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. 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”.

Steve Brodner with tribute today:

Below her two most recent (final) cartoons for the Post.