#90 Refresh And Re-energize And.... We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Programming
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Refresh and Re-energize
I have a whole thing about this. It’s going to have to wait until next week because…
Democracy Dies In Darkness
Yes, well, about that.
By now you may have heard (unless you are living under a rock) that Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes has resigned from her position at the Washington Post.
I cannot say that this was a shock to me. The Post is not what it was.
But I was greatly saddened by the news, not for what it means for Ann’s future, (she will be fine) but what it means for ours as we watch once respected news organizations skitter off the rails and fail to do one of their most important jobs. That of holding powerful people to account.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was the cartoon shown above. For those not in the know, the drawing looks rough because it is literally what cartoonists call “ a rough”. A sketch submitted to the editor for approval before the cartoonist inks up the final version.
I’d like to take a minute to dig into that phrase “submitted to the editor for approval” because this is something I actually know a little bit about. From the inside.
I have lived a lot of lives and had a lot of jobs.
One of those jobs was a stint as editorial assistant to Amy Lago at the Washington Post Writers Group where I was part of the team editing several award-winning editorial cartoonists. (I did NOT edit Ann’s work – she was the cartoonist for the Washington Post itself – WPWG was the syndicate wing of the post. Each group had its own editorial staff)
The first thing to learn was what I was supposed to be doing and what I was NOT supposed to be doing.
“Yes” list:
Check grammar and spelling
Check punctuation (my weakest skill, as astute observers of my punctuation choices in newsletters will have noticed)
Fact check – a broad category ranging from visual errors (once a cartoonist had a swastika drawn the wrong direction) to verifying accuracy of statements in the cartoon - especially those regarding breaking news stories
Sensitivity – does the cartoon come across as in extremely poor taste
“No” list:
Opinion – hands off judging the cartoonist’s opinion unless it can be considered hate speech or promotion of a false narrative
The process worked like this. A rough would come in and be looked at by both Amy Lago and myself. Amy would be looking at the cartoon as a whole and I would take a first pass at doing all that granular work of spelling and fact checking. My second pass would be assessing the more fuzzy part of things like that bit about sensitivity and taste. If the cartoon sent up any red flags, my job was to voice concerns to Amy. If she agreed with those concerns, the rest of the process took place between her and the cartoonist.
In general, the goal was not to “kill” a cartoon but to make sure it was the best version of itself.
Did cartoons get killed?
Yes, cartoons did get killed.
But very rarely. And it was a process of respect between editor and artist – each side knew the rules and filled their roles accordingly.
And so that phrase “submitted for approval” reflected a complicated process that sometimes had more to do with spelling than with content.
I can only speak to how things worked at WPWG. The world of editorial cartooning is complicated and I’m sure there are hundreds of stories out there of this process going differently. But that was my experience.
That was in 2019 and, at the time, I was extremely proud to be associated with the Washington Post. I was proud of their journalistic integrity and their independence.
I must say something here – if you think that the job was easy because all the cartoons were in alignment with my personal opinions or politics you would be wrong.
I worked with cartoonists coming from all sides of big issues and often found myself disliking a cartoon. But it was not my job to stifle opinions.
Nor was it my job to offer improvements to make the cartoon “funny”.
“But it’s not even funny!” is a phrase I have heard often applied to editorial cartoons. It tends to come from people who don’t understand what editorial cartoons are designed to be and to do.
They are not supposed to be funny.
They are supposed to make you think. To sit up and notice what is going on.
Editorial cartoonists are not jokesters.
They are the lookouts. The folks keeping an eye on the powerful and helping us hold them to account.
This used to be something we understood that we not only needed but wanted. Our whole nation was founded on standing up to abuses of power and the constitution itself protects the right to point out, and stand up to, abuses of power.
When did we start praising the abusers and tearing down those who call them out?
And, while we are at it, when did we get so fond of billionaires?
I can't remember the last time someone that rich took a heartfelt interest in little old me or anyone like me. Billionaires often get to be billionaires by taking advantage of the rest of us. They exploit our needs and desires for their own gain. Usually they spend a lot of money making sure they will be able to continue to do so without having to deal with pesky regulations.
Let’s look at that Telnaes cartoon again.
Are there any errors? Anything that is factually incorrect? Is there hate speech? A false narrative?
All I see is a clear statement of opinion on the rich and powerful people lining up to curry favor.
And one of those folks is clearly Jeff Bezos.
Billionaire owner of the Washington Post.
Billionaire owner of the Washington Post who absolutely inserted himself into the editorial process of presidential endorsements back in October.
It is unlikely that Bezos saw this cartoon. It is more likely that the WAPO editors, after the brouhaha that followed the endorsement scandal, are running scared when it comes to criticism of he-who-signs-the-paychecks. (Editor David Shipley has publicly stated that he killed the cartoon, not because of the presence of Bezos but because it was “repetitive”. Sounds fishy to me…)
No government official worth their salt can't take criticism. It's part of the gig. Folks who get into politics to serve the greater good understand this. Folks who get into politics to serve their own ends often have thin skins and do not seem to understand this.
Billionaires who like to get in bed with politicians, or become politicians themselves, often have the very thinnest skins and really really do not understand this.
As we are finding out.
As ordinary citizens, and non-billionaires, our two most powerful assets are our votes and our voices. A democracy cannot function properly when these are stifled.
And it cannot function properly when the voices of those we count on to keep us informed are stifled.
Not only do we need to know what’s really going on, we need to be able to poke fun at the people in charge. It's not just a release valve for frustration - it’s a way to get their attention. Perhaps enough of their attention that they will consider changing course.
I continue to believe that Ann Telnaes is one of our most important voices. I’ve been recommending her over in my recommendations tab since I started here on substack. But if you need a more direct link so that you can sign up to follow and support her please click here.
Copyright© 2024 Anne Morse Hambrock All rights reserved.
Full Disclosure
Telnaes cartoons from the Kenosha Festival Of Cartooning 2016 Gallery Show From 2011 to 2016 there was a thing called the Kenosha Festival of Cartooning and I was its founder and director. (If you would like to know more about it there is an archive website here.)
As the person running everything, I got to curate some amazing gallery shows and invite famous cartoonists to come and give presentations and do panel discussions.
Some of these artists were already friends and colleagues before the festival and some were not. After the festival we all shared a special bond and I cherish my memories of those times.
One of our 2016 gallery shows was focused on the Clinton/Trump race in the months before the election. Here is a link to some of the cartoons from the show – it is incomplete because, in a great fit of organization I cleared all my festival photo files off my computer and now, of course, cannot find them. But several of the pieces were submitted digitally for us to print out and those prints now reside in my personal basement archive. Where I was able to dig them out and photograph them anew.
Also, one of our 2016 guest speakers was Ann Telnaes.
So Ann has actually been to my town and even to my house. I have a big coffee table that I had the artists draw on and here was her contribution:
This was about five weeks before the election and we all thought it was a pretty funny drawing. The possibility that he would actually win, or that we would find out about a million unsavory, and/or illegal, things he had done was a small glimmer on the edge of our reality.
I cherish the table and love the fact that I have a an original Telnaes drawing of Trump. Though it saddens me that I can't view it in the same lighthearted way I once did.
Here are some of Ann’s other pieces that were in a separate 2016 gallery show focused on women cartoonists:
Ann has, of course, had to draw a LOT of cartoons about Trump. But that work is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to her output. She has had a wide ranging career and given us food for thought on pretty much everything going on in our society that matters.
Again, please consider following her substack.
One More Thing…
This piece by Paul Combs was one of the cartoons in the gallery show I linked to above. As I was going through images today, I was struck by its continuing relevance, particularly to today’s newsletter.
I leave you with this:
My dog doesn’t pay attention to any of this. He only knows that it has snowed. And he is wondering why I am choosing to stay warm and toasty indoors rather than joining him in a backyard frolic.
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I was one of the hundreds of thousands that canceled the Post this last election, my one regret being Ann’s cartoons. I guess that’s not a regret anymore.
I said it on another post, but the greatness of the Washington Post began and ended with Katherine Graham.
I want to comment, to thank you, but I can't think of a comment worthy of your post. Just "hear, hear" and "right on"!