from the increasing-distrust-in-media dept

Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos wants you to believe he’s on a noble mission to restore trust in media. His solution? Muzzling his own paper by blocking it from endorsing Kamala Harris in the runup to the election, a decision he defended in a self-serving op-ed claiming that trust in media is at an all-time low.

Yet, as we noted at the time, the real reason people’s faith in the press is plummeting is that they’re tired of seeing billionaires throw their weight around to silence critics and shape media narratives to suit their interests.

The latest example? The Post silencing criticism by blocking an editorial cartoon mocking billionaires, Bezos included, for throwing millions at Trump’s inauguration in a pathetic attempt to curry favor. And it’s exactly this kind of behavior that is destroying the public’s trust in media.

The public sees right through the charade. They know billionaires are using their media properties to skew coverage, squash dissent, and meddle in the newsroom to protect their egos and bottom lines. Is it any wonder trust is in the toilet? People are hungry for fearless, independent journalism that speaks truth to power and holds the wealthy and powerful to account.

The thing that destroys trust is when a long-term Washington Post editorial cartoonist like Ann Telnaes is blocked from publishing a cartoon mocking the pathetic spinelessness of US corporate billionaires throwing money at Trump’s inauguration as a form of kissing the ring.

Telnaes, who has worked at WaPo since 2008, decided to quit, noting that she’s never had a previous comic blocked over content:

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.

While it isn’t uncommon for editorial page editors to object to visual metaphors within a cartoon if it strikes that editor as unclear or isn’t correctly conveying the message intended by the cartoonist, such editorial criticism was not the case regarding this cartoon. To be clear, there have been instances where sketches have been rejected or revisions requested, but never because of the point of view inherent in the cartoon’s commentary. That’s a game changer…and dangerous for a free press.

Telnaes has published her draft of the rejected comic on her own site and I’ll encourage you to see it there. It shows these corporate billionaires (yes, including Bezos) bowing down at the feet of Trump, holding up bags of money.

Bezos may own the Post, but if his goal is truly restoring trust in media, he should be welcoming criticism and dissent, not stifling it. Squashing a cartoon that dares to mock him and his fellow billionaires shows his real priority is preserving his own power and image, not earning the public’s trust.

It, again, says that the rich and the powerful will not accept any public criticism of their actions and must wield their power to silence those who dare speak out.

If Bezos and his billionaire ilk really want to restore faith in the Fourth Estate, they need to start walking the walk — empowering bold, independent voices, welcoming accountability, and putting the public interest over self-interest. Until then, their platitudes about trust will keep ringing hollow.

Filed Under: ann telnaes, donald trump, editorial cartoon, jeff bezos, kissing the ring, trust in media

Companies: washington post