Ann Telnaes says the rough version of the cartoon she drew for The Washington Post , shown above, was rejected by the paper’s editorial page editor.

Ann Telnaes

Ann Telnaes

A Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist for the Washington Post has resigned after its editorial page editor rejected a cartoon she created to mock media and tech titans abasing themselves before President-elect Donald Trump.

Among the corporate chiefs depicted by Ann Telnaes was Amazon founder and Post owner Jeff Bezos. The episode follows Bezos’ decision in October to block publication of a planned endorsement of Vice President Harris over Trump in the waning days of last year’s presidential elections.

The inspiration for Telnaes’ latest proposed cartoon was the trek by top tech chief executives including Bezos to Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, as well as the seven-figure contributions several promised to make toward his inauguration. She submitted a sketch before Christmas. It was never published.

“I’m very used to being edited,” Telnaes tells NPR. “I’ve never ever, since I’ve worked for the Post in 2008, been not allowed to comment on certain topics by having cartoons being killed.”

“We have to have the freedom to say what we want to say,” Telnaes adds. “We are visual opinion makers.”

In a statement shared with NPR, Editorial Page Editor David Shipley said he respected Telnaes’ contributions to the Post but took issue with her interpretation of events.

“Not every editorial judgment is a reflection of a malign force,” he said. “My decision was guided by the fact that we had just published a column on the same topic as the cartoon and had already scheduled another column – this one a satire – for publication. The only bias was against repetition.”

The Post has seen a surge in cancellations

Many readers have signaled a lack of trust in the paper — which adopted the motto “Democracy Dies in Darkness” during the Trump years — over Bezos’ decision to block publication of the Harris endorsement.

Three hundred thousand people canceled digital subscriptions between NPR’s revelation of the decision on Oct. 24 and Election Day, according to a person with direct knowledge.

That figure represents about 12% of all digital subscriptions. The paper has been seeking to retain those customers before those cancellations take full effect. (About 128,000 people subscribe to the print edition, according to the latest available figures from September.)

Bezos has said he doesn’t regret the decision over the Harris endorsement, but could have timed it better, and denied it had any connection to his multibillion-dollar business dealings with the federal government through Amazon and his space company Blue Origin.

Along with Bezos, Telnaes depicted Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman shown bringing Trump sacks of cash. Los Angeles Times owner and billionaire medical innovator Patrick Soon-Shiong was shown bearing a tube of lipstick.

Also lying prostrate was Mickey Mouse — the avatar of the Walt Disney Co. Last month, Disney settled a Trump defamation suit against ABC News by agreeing to pay $15 million to an as-yet non-existent Trump foundation and $1 million toward his legal fees.

Like Bezos, Soon-Shiong killed an editorial endorsing Harris, previously a state attorney general and senator from California. Approximately 20,000 Los Angeles Times subscribers canceled. Soon-Shiong recently told NPR that he acted to block reflexive liberal bias at the paper and because the editorial board had not interviewed Harris during her campaign. He noted he had previously spoken with Trump.

“Of course these are businesses, and I understand that,” Telnaes tells NPR. “But they own a newspaper and they have an obligation, frankly, to protect the free press. And I think with these tech titan billionaires [and] news executive owners, their actions have an impact on that free press.”

Like Apple chief Tim Cook, Zuckerberg, Altman and Bezos have said they would make seven-figure donations to help cover the costs of Trump’s second inauguration.

Some staffers leave the Post after endorsement controversy

Telnaes says she had submitted the cartoon just before Christmas and then awaited Shipley’s return from travel abroad to talk to him after the new year. She says Shipley appealed to her to stay but she could not in good conscience agree.

Three staffers left the editorial board after Bezos’ decision on the Harris endorsement, while a contributing writer resigned. At the time, Shipley made clear to colleagues that he had wanted to publish it but accepted the outcome. The paper’s reporters covered the episodes and many opinion staffers wrote critiques of Bezos for the Post and in social media.

In the months since, a notable number of prominent journalists left the paper’s core newsroom. Acting Executive Editor Matt Murray killed an article about the departure of then Managing Editor Matea Gold for The New York Times. 

The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists put out a statement in support of Telnaes, a member and past president of the group:

“Corporate billionaires once again have brought an editorial cartoon to life with their craven censorship in bowing to a wannabe tyrant,” the group stated. “Her principled resignation illustrates that while the pen is mightier than the sword, political cowardice once again eclipses journalistic integrity at The Washington Post.”