Good morning, and Happy New Year. The Poynter Report is back after a holiday break. We jump right back in where we left off. That’s to say it would appear that 2025 is starting the same way 2024 ended for The Washington Post — with uncomfortable controversy.

Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes posted a message on Substack that she was quitting the Post because the publication refused to publish her cartoon that showed several billionaire tech and media chief executives genuflecting at a statue of President-elect Donald Trump. One of those executives clearly was Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post.

Telnaes wrote, “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.”

Telnaes added, “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.”

She also wrote, “As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job. So I have decided to leave the Post. I doubt my decision will cause much of a stir and that it will be dismissed because I’m just a cartoonist. But I will not stop holding truth to power through my cartooning, because as they say, ‘Democracy dies in darkness’.”

“Democracy dies in darkness” is the Post’s slogan.

In a statement to NPR media writer David Folkenflik, Post editorial page editor David Shipley said he disagreed with Telnaes’ “interpretation of events.” Shipley said, “Not every editorial judgment is a reflection of a malign force. 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.”

While that all might be true, why not just run the cartoon anyway, especially because much of the public believes there is a lot of truth in Telnaes’ cartoon? Not publishing it only reinforces that narrative.

After all, Bezos nixed a Post editorial that would endorse Kamala Harris for president, publicly congratulated Trump following his victory and had dinner with Trump and Elon Musk at Mar-a-Lago after the election. Killing the cartoon does come off as fishy, seeing as how news organizations, including the Post, routinely run several opinion pieces about the same topic.

The cartoon depicted Bezos, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI chief Sam Altman, Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong and Mickey Mouse.

The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin wrote, “Mr. Shipley added that he had spoken with Ms. Telnaes by phone on Friday and had asked her to reconsider resigning. During the call, Mr. Shipley said he wanted to speak with Ms. Telnaes on Monday, after they had taken the weekend to think things over. He later encouraged her to hold off on quitting to see if they could work out the situation in accordance with her principles.”

Telnaes has been with the Post since 2008. She won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 2001.

In a statement, the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists called the Post’s decision to kill the cartoon “craven censorship” and “political cowardice.” They added, “The AAEC condemns the Post and their ethical weakness. Editorial cartooning is the tip of the spear in opinion, and the Post’s cowering further soils their once-stellar reputation for standing up and speaking truth to power. We weep for the loss of this once great newspaper.”

The recent past has not been good at The Washington Post. Newsroom leadership has been uncertain since Sally Buzbee stepped down last June. The Post still hasn’t come up with a permanent plan for how its leadership structure will work, and is still reeling from the nixed editorial mess that resulted in staff resignations, internal criticism from some of its most respected journalists and digital subscription cancellations that Folkenflik reported totaled 300,000.

More bad news at the Post

Here’s a little more bad news for the Post. They are losing three respected political reporters.

Two high-profile reporters announced they would leave the Post to join The Atlantic: Ashley Parker, a senior national political correspondent, and Michael Scherer, a national political reporter. And The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin reports that The Atlantic might hire more Post reporters.

Parker is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner who joined the Post in 2017. Before that, she spent 11 years at The New York Times. Scherer also has been at the Post since 2017.

The Post’s loss is very much The Atlantic’s gain.

Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, told Mullin, “We believe in accountability journalism. We want to cover the incoming administration rigorously. I want to build our team with the best political reporters and editors I can find.”

Mullin added, “The magazine, which in recent years has become a success in the realm of digital subscriptions, is preparing to hire roughly a dozen new reporters and editors to beef up its politics coverage, a spokeswoman for The Atlantic said.”

Meanwhile, Puck’s Dylan Byers reported that Josh Dawsey is leaving the Post for The Wall Street Journal. Byers wrote that Dawsey would be a political investigations reporter and join a new Wall Street Journal D.C. reporting team that includes former Politico reporters Meridith McGraw, Olivia Beavers and Gavin Bade.

Dawsey is currently on leave from the Post to work on a book about the 2024 election. Media reporter Oliver Darcy wrote in his Status newsletter that Dawsey will start at the Journal in February.

Dawsey previously worked at the Journal and Politico before joining the Post in 2017. Another big loss for the Post.

And even worse news at the Post …

Media reporter Oliver Darcy reported late Sunday night, “Layoffs are expected to rock The Washington Post this week, according to people familiar with the matter.”

Darcy added, “The layoffs are slated to hit the Jeff Bezos-owned and Will Lewis-led newspaper’s business division, I’m told. One person familiar with the matter said that the cuts will be deep, impacting many dozens of employees.”

One more …

This is sort of Post-related. Well, it involves Amazon and it has raised some eyebrows.

Incoming first lady Melania Trump will be the subject of a new documentary directed by Brett Ratner and distributed by Amazon Prime Video.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman reported, “Amazon Prime has exclusively licensed a documentary film for global theatrical and streaming release that will give viewers an ‘unprecedented behind-the-scenes look’ at First Lady Melania Trump’s life, Fox News Digital has learned. Fox News Digital has learned that the project is expected to be released globally in theaters and for streaming use in the second half of 2025. Filming for the upcoming documentary began in December 2024. The documentary will be executive produced by First Lady Melania Trump and Fernando Sulichin of New Element Media, with Brett Ratner of RatPac Entertainment serving as director.”

The Associated Press’ Lindsey Bahr writes, “The film is the latest connection between Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Donald Trump. The company in December announced plans to donate $1 million to the President-elect’s inauguration fund, and said that it would also stream Trump’s inauguration on its Prime Video service, a separate in-kind donation worth another $1 million.”

Perhaps the most controversial part of this isn’t that Amazon is teaming up with Melania Trump, but that the director will be Brett Ratner. As The Hollywood Reporters’ Alex Weprin and Aaron Couch note, “Ratner has been in Hollywood exile since 2017, when six women accused him of sexual misconduct as part of a Los Angeles Times report. He was dropped by his agency and has not made a film since, though in recent months, he attempted to stir up interest in a fourth Rush Hour movie as a comeback vehicle, multiple sources told The Hollywood Reporter in August. Ratner denied accusations of misconduct in 2017, and no criminal charges were brought.”

A troubling anniversary

Supporters of then-President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Today is Jan. 6 — the fourth anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. A mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building and attacked law enforcement in an effort to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

While it’s a chapter in U.S. history that many would prefer to forget, it was a dark day that should never be forgotten, especially with Trump set to become president again in just two weeks.

Here are a few stories of note regarding Jan. 6:

• The New York Times’ Dan Barry and Alan Feuer with “‘A Day of Love’: How Trump Inverted the Violent History of Jan. 6.”
• In a guest essay for The New York Times, Aquilino Gonell, a former sergeant in the Capitol Police, with “For Many of Us, Jan. 6 Never Ended.”
• NPR’s Tom Dreisbach with “As Trump rewrites history, victims of the Jan. 6 riot say they feel ‘betrayed.’”
• The Associated Press’ Kevin Freking with “Lawmakers brace for Trump’s promised Jan. 6 pardons. Some are urging restraint.”
• The Washington Post editorial board with “Does a new report justify Jan. 6 pardons? In fact, it does the opposite.”
• The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board with “Trump’s Pardon Promise for Jan. 6 Rioters.”
• Los Angeles Times’ columnist Jackie Calmes with “Don’t forget what happened four years ago on Jan. 6.”

Media tidbits

• From NBC News, Adiel Kaplan, Kenzi Abou-Sabe and Dan De Luce with “‘A perfect storm’: Extremism online and political polarization are increasing the risk of attacks, experts say.” The authors write, “The ISIS-inspired attack in New Orleans underscores how extremism online and political divisions at home have created ‘a perfect storm’ for radicalization in America, experts say, with law enforcement struggling to track an increasingly fractured threat. Finding and accessing extremist communities online has never been easier, the threat has never been higher, and the ideology of those carrying out attacks has never been more splintered, according to the experts.”
• Some serious allegations here. Front Office Sports’ A.J. Perez and Michael McCarthy with “Fox, Skip Bayless, Others Sued on 14 Counts Including Sexual Battery.”
• The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh with “How Bad Is Bypassing Paywalls?”
• The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch with “Tom Brady walks away, WNBA ratings soar, and ESPN snags CP3: 2025 Sports Media Predictions.”

Hot type

• Esquire’s Alan Light with “The 10 Most Anticipated Albums of 2025.”
• One final note today. Over the holidays, I had a chance to see the movie about Bob Dylan, “A Complete Unknown.” I highly recommend it. If you like Dylan, you’ll love this movie. And even if you’re not a big Dylan fan, I still think you’ll enjoy it. Timothée Chalamet is brilliant as Dylan. Go see it.

More resources for journalists

• Reinvigoration for the unsung heroes of the TV newsroom.
• Lead With Influence is for leaders who manage big responsibilities but have no direct reports.
• Try our dynamic, in-person, five-day workshop for new newsroom managers.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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