‘Why I Am Quitting the Washington Post’ ⇥ anntelnaes.substack.com

Ann Telnaes:

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.

We can keep an open mind and accept the editor rejected this cartoon for any number of reasons, while also considering the most obvious reason: the editor acknowledges the owner of the Post is aligning himself with the incoming administration. Perhaps a more generous reading is that Jeff Bezos is directing the Post to be less adversarial than it was from 2016–2020. Either way, the effect is the same.