Jamison Foser on the Obsequiousness of The Washington Post Spiking Ann Telnaes’s Cartoon
Jamison Foser:
Washington Post opinion editor David Shipley offered the kind of
obviously-false explanation you only utter when you know admitting
the truth will make you look even worse:
David Shipley, The Post’s opinions editor, said in a statement
that he respected Ms. Telnaes and all she had given to The Post
“but must disagree with her interpretation of events.”
“Not every editorial judgment is a reflection of a malign force,”
Mr. 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.”
Look, this is bullshit. It is risible to suggest that the world’s
most powerful billionaires — men who control Facebook, Amazon,
The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Disney, ABC News, and
OpenAI — aligning themselves with an aspiring autocrat is
unworthy of two columns (one satirical) and a drawing.
And Shipley’s claim that the Post opinion section has a “bias …
against repetition”? As I write this, at 8:50 pm on January 4 the
main page of the opinion section at WashingtonPost.com currently
features the following:
“The 10 worst things Biden did in 2024” by Marc Thiessen
“The 10 best things Biden did in 2024” by Marc Thiessen
“Dave Barry’s 2024 year in review” by Dave Barry
“24 good things that happened in 2024” by the Editorial Board
“2025 promises to be tumultuous. Here’s our New Year’s
resolution” by the Editorial Board
“How poker players keep New Year’s resolutions” by Annie Duke
“Classifying New Year’s resolutions,” a cartoon by Edith
Pritchett
“Bringing in the New Year,” a cartoon by by Ann Telnaes
Clearly this is not an opinion section that has a “bias …
against repetition.” Just as clearly, the Post’s explanation for
spiking Telnaes’ cartoon is bullshit. It is a defense so
preposterous it serves as unwitting acknowledgment of the most
obvious — and damning — interpretation of the Post’s actions:
The Post spiked Telnaes’ cartoon because of its portrayal of
Post owner Jeff Bezos.
Foser further makes the point that the Post’s obsequiousness here is not toward Trump, but rather toward Bezos. In fact, if Trump has seen Telnaes’s cartoon, he surely loves it. He might have it framed.
★
Jamison Foser:
Washington Post opinion editor David Shipley offered the kind of
obviously-false explanation you only utter when you know admitting
the truth will make you look even worse:
David Shipley, The Post’s opinions editor, said in a statement
that he respected Ms. Telnaes and all she had given to The Post
“but must disagree with her interpretation of events.”
“Not every editorial judgment is a reflection of a malign force,”
Mr. 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.”
Look, this is bullshit. It is risible to suggest that the world’s
most powerful billionaires — men who control Facebook, Amazon,
The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Disney, ABC News, and
OpenAI — aligning themselves with an aspiring autocrat is
unworthy of two columns (one satirical) and a drawing.
And Shipley’s claim that the Post opinion section has a “bias …
against repetition”? As I write this, at 8:50 pm on January 4 the
main page of the opinion section at WashingtonPost.com currently
features the following:
“The 10 worst things Biden did in 2024” by Marc Thiessen
“The 10 best things Biden did in 2024” by Marc Thiessen
“Dave Barry’s 2024 year in review” by Dave Barry
“24 good things that happened in 2024” by the Editorial Board
“2025 promises to be tumultuous. Here’s our New Year’s
resolution” by the Editorial Board
“How poker players keep New Year’s resolutions” by Annie Duke
“Classifying New Year’s resolutions,” a cartoon by Edith
Pritchett
“Bringing in the New Year,” a cartoon by by Ann Telnaes
Clearly this is not an opinion section that has a “bias …
against repetition.” Just as clearly, the Post’s explanation for
spiking Telnaes’ cartoon is bullshit. It is a defense so
preposterous it serves as unwitting acknowledgment of the most
obvious — and damning — interpretation of the Post’s actions:
The Post spiked Telnaes’ cartoon because of its portrayal of
Post owner Jeff Bezos.
Foser further makes the point that the Post’s obsequiousness here is not toward Trump, but rather toward Bezos. In fact, if Trump has seen Telnaes’s cartoon, he surely loves it. He might have it framed.