Another Nail in the Coffin of 'The Free Press'

I’d like to draw your attention to the resignation of Ann Telnaes, professional cartoonist since 2003. It is unusual to care so much about a cartoonist that most readers will never have heard of, but this matters for many, many reasons. Ann Telnaes’s former employer is The Washington Post, owned by Jeff Bezos of Amazon fame. Telnaes’s latest cartoon (the one that ended her period at WP) takes aim at three key figures - Sam Altman (owner of Open AI), Patrick Soon-Shiong (owner of the LA Times) and finally the aforementioned Jeff Bezos. All are depicted worshipping at the shrine of Trump, with  Mickey Mouse lying dead in the foreground of the cartoon. 

I was once told by a cartoonist idol of mine that cartooning and satire was about talking truth to power and holding power accountable for their actions. Many fear that Trump’s presidency is the death of satire. Whilst many would think it foolhardy to criticise an employer in such a public way, it is important to note that the cartoon in question was just a rough sketch and could have had edits made to it which would still have kept the substantive point that Telnaes wanted. The media oligarchy that is currently destroying all of our press and our freedoms is something that we should, as cartoonists, be tackling. It should be what we exist to do, our raison-d’etre. Not for Jeff Bezos it would seem.

When this basic tenet of freedom of speech and expression is thwarted by billionaire barons that think they own the media the damage is severe. I say “think they own”, because we are all entitled to our opinions and are all entitled to share these opinions. We can be our own media through platforms like Ghost, Wordpress and Zenblog. These are all programs that are open source in nature, and there are a plethora of more well-known alternatives, such as Medium, started by the former Twitter co-founder Evan Williams. There’s also Substack, where CEO Chris Best has written about his condemnation of Trump in the wake of the January 6th riots. These are brilliant platforms for being able to share views, and are mainly used by the ‘saner’ individuals that frequent our media. They are encouraging press freedom. 

Press freedom only goes awry when there is an insecure leader at the helm. Donald Trump, Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos, and indeed Patrick Soon-Shiong are all in this category. Elon Musk is also in this camp and the opinions that he has shared about the others in his camp are positive. Tech bros before truth seems to be the message of this cabal, and it won’t aid them in the long run. What happens if and when Trump’s period in office is over? He could in theory rewrite the constitution, ensuring that Hoover’s 22nd amendment was eliminated, but this wouldn’t be as simple as it sounds. 

Trump does have a majority in the House, but there is still opposition to be found in his own ranks as many deem his plans too extreme. What matters here though is the freedom to disagree. Many of Trump’s former senior colleagues, including his former vice-president, Mike Pence, have disagreed openly with Trump , and this is why Ann Telnaes and press freedom is all the more important. 

In the UK, we have seen Steve Bell fired from The Guardian over allegations of an antisemitic cartoon, and him overtly stating that he had not drawn this connection. As an avid follower and researcher of contemporary political cartoons, I am sure that Ann Telnaes has been hamstrung in a similar manner to Bell. The critics of the work are powerful, but cartooning is about talking truth to power, as is journalism to an extent. 

If Telnaes is beholden to journalist colleagues, this is one thing, but being beholden to the owners of the media empire she serves, which includes, of all people, the second wealthiest man in the world, the whole line of talking truth to power starts to rust. Unless these powerful figures take criticism on board, nothing will change in our society, and we will be under their relentless control, having to kowtow to whomever they please. It sounds dystopian because it is. Ann Telnaes’s dismissal proves that dystopia has arrived.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Slowking 4

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