A Washington Publish cartoonist introduced that she had give up the paper this week as a result of it rejected her cartoon of Amazon founder and Publish proprietor Jeff Bezos groveling to President-elect Trump.
Publish editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes wrote on her Substack web page Friday that she was resigning from the outlet, accusing it of spiking the cartoon as a result of it was important of the billionaire.
Within the article, “Why I’m Quitting the Washington Publish,” Telnaes mentioned, “I’ve had editorial suggestions and productive conversations—and a few variations—about cartoons I’ve submitted for publication, however in all that point I’ve by no means had a cartoon killed due to who or what I selected to purpose my pen at. Till now.”
The cartoonist shared a tough draft of the unpublished cartoon, which depicted Bezos and different unspecified rich businessmen genuflecting and holding up baggage of cash to the incoming president. Prostrating on the ground subsequent to them was Mickey Mouse, apparently a illustration of Disney’s supposed subservience to Trump.
Telnaes defined her drawing, stating, “The cartoon that was killed criticizes the billionaire tech and media chief executives who’ve been doing their finest to curry favor with incoming President-elect Trump.”
Regardless of a prickly relationship between the 2 over time, Bezos has expressed assist for Trump following his 2024 election victory. Within the wake of Election Day, the Amazon proprietor advised reporters he was “very optimistic” about Trump’s regulatory agenda.
Bezos just lately pledged to donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. He additionally had dinner with the incoming president at his Mar-a-Lago residence in December.
Bezos additionally made liberals, together with Publish employees, irate simply forward of the election by making the choice that the paper wouldn’t be making a presidential endorsement.
Different distinguished tech moguls have met with Trump within the months following his win, together with Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook dinner.
Telnaes’ Disney reference seems to be a dig on the firm being cited as an element behind ABC Information’ current $15 million settlement with Trump earlier this month.
In her Substack piece, Telnaes continued to proclaim her perception that the Publish squashed the cartoon due to its political level. She wrote, “To be clear, there have been cases the place sketches have been rejected or revisions requested, however by no means due to the standpoint inherent within the cartoon’s commentary. That’s a recreation changer…and harmful for a free press.”
“As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to carry highly effective folks and establishments accountable. For the primary time, my editor prevented me from doing that important job. So I’ve determined to go away the Publish,” she added.
Nevertheless, The Washington Publish Editorial Web page editor David Shipley – who admitted to creating the choice to spike it himself – denied her accusation that The Publish killed the cartoon for political causes, saying in a current assertion that he did it to keep away from “repetition” of a narrative.
He mentioned, “Not each editorial judgment is a mirrored image of a malign pressure. My choice was guided by the truth that we had simply revealed a column on the identical matter because the cartoon and had already scheduled one other column — this one a satire — for publication. The one bias was in opposition to repetition.”
Telnaes has not but responded to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark.
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