There have been many political cartoonists – the political cartoonist was as much a staple of newspapers as the crossword puzzle. Thomas Nast is considered the “Father of the American Cartoon,” Nast’s powerful imagery helped bring down Boss Tweed and his corrupt Democratic political machine run out of Tammany Hall in New York City. Incidentally, the Pogo cast includes a character named Tammany Tiger. Nast is also credited with popularizing the modern image of Santa Claus.
Herblock (Herbert Lawrence Block) of the Washington Post was a giant in the field of political cartooning. He was highly influential, and his cartoons had a profound impact on American political discourse, known for its sharp wit and incisive commentary on social and political issues. Beyond that, he had a remarkably long career. He got his first job as a cartoonist in 1929. He won his first Pulitzer Prize in 1942, then spent two years in the Army doing cartoons and press releases. After his discharge Block became chief editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post, where he worked until his death 55 years later. He won three Pulitzer Prizes and shared a fourth.
There were many brilliant political cartoonists – there’s a display at the Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/ cartoonamerica/cartoon-political.html) that includes Nast, Herblock, and many others who may be less familiar. And then there is Ann Telnaes, another Pulitzer Prize winner. She is the first woman to receive both the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning and the Reuben Award, named after Rube Goldberg, an award for editorial cartooning. The Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year is chosen by a secret ballot of the members of the National Cartoonists Society.
Ms. Telnaes, who resigned from the Washington Post, wrote an explanation of her decision:
“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.”
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.
David Shipley, the Post’s opinion editor, issued a statement. “Not every editorial judgment is a reflection of a malign force,” Shipley said in the statement. “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.”
H.L. Mencken once wrote, “Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one.” The owner of a newspaper is entitled to chose the editors who reflect their opinions – for example, The Wall Street Journal is owned by Dow Jones & Company, which in turn is a subsidiary of News Corp. The media conglomerate is controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s family. We do not expect the Murdochs to endorse politicians whose policies oppose their own, but we also don’t expect Christopher Ruddy, who is the CEO and majority owner of Newsmax Media to rely on Democrats for his income. Shipley obviously was expressing his own opinion, but his own opinion seems to be that Bezos can only take so much.
The Washington Post lost about 250,000 subscribers after Mr. Bezos decided that the paper would not endorse Vice-President Harris for president. Some went back because Alexandra Petri, a humor columnist (and a very good one) wrote “It has fallen to me, the humor columnist, to endorse Harris for president.” Dana Milbank, an excellent writer, wrote: “But boycotting the Post will hurt my colleagues and me. … The more cancellations there are, the more jobs will be lost, and the less good journalism there will be.” But he added that if the non-endorsement was “the beginning of a crackdown on our journalistic integrity … my colleagues and I will be leading the calls for Post readers to cancel their subscriptions, and we’ll be resigning en masse.”
Telnaes’ resignation won’t get that much of a protest – but it should be noted. “Democracy,” we used to believe, “dies in darkness.”
Sam Uretsky is a writer and pharmacist living in Louisville, Ky. Email sam.uretsky@gmail.com
From The Progressive Populist, February 15, 2025
Blog | Current Issue | Back Issues | Essays | Links
About the Progressive Populist | How to Subscribe | How to Contact Us