Paper has been pilloried for what some call ‘anticipatory obedience’ in preparation of a new president next year

The Washington Post’s cartoon team has taken a measure of revenge on the newspaper’s decision to avoid making a formal presidential endorsement with a dark formless image clearly designed to skewer the “Democracy Dies in Darkness” slogan that the outlet adopted during billionaire Jeff Bezos’s ownership.

The image was published hours after it was revealed that Bezos, who has owned the paper since 2012, had pulled the plug on a prepared endorsement of Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in the 5 November election.

The cartoon commentary was created by Pulitzer prize-winning illustrator Ann Telnaes, who is known for her incisive political representations.

      • PugJesus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        39·
        20 days ago

        Embarrassingly enough, I like this country. But everything good about it has been the product of centuries of people who had no reason to hope for better but chose to believe that better things were possible, clawing their way uphill — protesting, marching, voting, and, yes, doing the work of journalism — to build this fragile thing called democracy. But to be fragile is not the same as to be perishable, as G.K. Chesterton wrote. Simply do not break a glass, and it will last a thousand years. Smash it, and it will not last an instant. Democracy is like that: fragile, but only if you shatter it.

        Humor columnist hits hard.

        • floofloof@lemmy.caEnglish
          22·
          20 days ago

          I’m just a humor columnist. I only know what’s happening because our actual journalists are out there reporting, knowing that their editors have their backs, that there’s no one too powerful to report on, that we would never pull a punch out of fear. That’s what our readers deserve and expect: that we are saying what we really think, reporting what we really see; that if we think Trump should not return to the White House and Harris would make a fine president, we’re going to be able to say so.

          That’s why I, the humor columnist, am endorsing Kamala Harris by myself!

          That too. More courage than Bezos would ever muster.

      • undercrust@lemmy.ca
        11·
        20 days ago

        The case for Donald Trump is “I erroneously think the economy used to be better? I know that he has made many ominous-sounding threats about mass deportations, going after his political enemies, shutting down the speech of those who disagree with him (especially media outlets), and that he wants to make things worse for almost every category of person — people with wombs, immigrants, transgender people, journalists, protesters, people of color — but … maybe he’ll forget.”

    • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
      152·
      20 days ago

      I am one of the “cancelled subscriptions”. I am trying NYT for a bit and Guardian if NYT doesn’t gel with me. This was a terrible move by Bezos.

      I have been extremely disappointed by most of my colleagues in tech lately.

      • dragontamer@lemmy.worldEnglish
        71·
        20 days ago

        I’m cancelling too but I’m not convinced on NYT or The guardian yet.

        NYT strikes me as horribly inept at technology. Guardian is foreign (granted: UK is barely foreign lol but foreign anyway). I’d like to support an American paper if at all possible.

        Guardian is good material though. It’s a top contender for now but I’m still looking for American papers. Surely something in this big country is worth supporting?

        I mean, maybe I just support aftermath.site (aka: Kotaku before they quit/were replaced with the new writers). Video game news + politics is kinda what I’m interested in, but Aftermath.site (and Kotaku of old) didn’t even pretend to be neutral or facts based.

        I guess the modern Internet means that I need to pick and choose a-la-carte.

        • Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world
          7·
          20 days ago

          I lost respect for the NYT after their How Hamas weaponized sexual violence story turned out to be a much of hearsay featuring a writer who liked a post calling Palestinians human animals

          • geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml
            3·
            20 days ago

            Not just hearsay, written by an ex IDF soldier without any journalistic experience.

            Nobody should support NYT financially. It is a disservice to journalism.

          • dragontamer@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            20 days ago

            I’m fine with right wingers in my media honestly. I need to see their arguments anyway. I don’t want to be blind to what the far right is talking about.

            But with that being said, the NYT has a lot of questionable stories. Beyond just right wing trash that I honestly am cool with.

            • HellsBelle@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
              1·
              20 days ago

              You may be interested in The Righting then. It’s an aggregate for centrists/leftists to read what the right wing is writing. The creator often has short columns as well.

        • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
          5·
          20 days ago

          I guess the modern Internet means that I need to pick and choose a-la-carte.

          This has always been “best practice”. I want to support one big outlet that has the muscle to put pressure on an administration, but that doesn’t mean that they become my only source of news. At the moment I tip Guardian whenever I read an article that I feel went the extra mile. I need to figure out how to tip Al Jazeera too because they have been amazing for years. No outlet is perfect and many sins I can forgive. Bending to the will of a billionaire is not one of those sins.