Washington Post Dies In Daylight

It's hard to trust media owned by billionaires out to appease power, rather than hold power accountable—but here's a strategy to fight the disinformation

In 1786 Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.” This week Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Ann Telnaes resigned from her position at the Washington Post—a role she’d served in since 2008 when George Bush was President—due to a limitation placed on her freedom of press. Telnaes’ departure signals the danger our democracy faces due to limited press—caused not just by the threat of government sanction, but also by the fear of billionaire oligarchy. Unsurprisingly, this is a story corporate media is failing to effectively cover, but we must. Let’s Address This.

Pulitzer prize winning journalist Ann Telnaes and the cartoon that Washington Post refused to print. [Image Credit: Ann Telnaes].

Ann Telnaes drew the below powerful political cartoon as a commentary on billionaire capitulation to Donald Trump. And among the billionaires she mocked is Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos. As a result, Washington Post Editorial Page editor David Shipley killed the comic and refused to let Telnaes publish it. Telnaes has since resigned from the Washington Post, and wrote about her decision to leave, stating:

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”.

Telnaes’ line about ‘Democracy dying in darkness’ is an eloquent jab at the Washington Post’s tagline—one they’re clearly failing to uphold. Undoubtedly, prior to Jeff Bezos purchasing the Washington Post, such a cartoon would have been published without hesitation. Indeed, what could be more journalistic than holding one of the most powerful people in the world accountable for his unjust actions?

The Washington Post’s decline over the past year is remarkable. After Bezos blocked a Presidential endorsement, the Post lost more than 10% of its paying subscribers. Now, as Bezos blocks a political cartoon critical of him, the Post loses a Pulitzer prize winning journalist. And adding to the tragedy is that Washington Post is reportedly set to lay off dozens of journalists in the coming weeks, according to a report by Status journalist Oliver Darcey. Despite Bezos’ hundreds of billions of dollars, the Washington Post is making budget cuts to staff.

How Do We Know Which Media To Trust?

Upton Sinclair once wrote, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” This begs the question—how do we trust media when the billionaires funding them have their own agenda that aligns with the powerful, not the people? I am resolute that my writing focus not only on calling out injustice, but also on providing practical solutions to counter those injustices.

When I write, I rely on tools and resources designed to verify and cross-check the sources I cite, so when you read a fact cited in one of my articles, it is backed by verifiable data. How do I make that determination?

One of the most valuable tools I use is Ground News.

Ground News is an app and a website that helps me provide the trustworthy analysis every person deserves. In addition to gathering related articles globally in one place, revealing source bias and factuality, they cut through partisanship and sensationalism to focus on the facts—Ground News reports on who funds a media outlet.

So even if you didn’t know why Washington Post killed a comic mocking Jeff Bezos, with a click Ground News would divulge that Bezos owns the Post. Thus, before reading the Washington Post’s analysis of billionaires, you’d know they’re funded by a billionaire with the goal to protect himself from scrutiny. In short, Ground News gives you the tools to help you form your own opinions and decisions.

It’s also worth mentioning that Ground News itself is subscriber supported, not billionaire funded. So by subscribing, you directly support my newsletter and you contribute to keeping the media transparent. And right now if you subscribe to Ground News at the below link, you’ll conveniently get 40% off their Vantage Plan, the same one I use.

Conclusion

The harsh and sad truth is that what we’re seeing out of the Washington Post will continue to happen. Billionaires will keep buying media outlets, skew reliability and accuracy, and cloud transparency. But we are not helpless and I refuse to accept any scenario where we give up hope. Instead, my goal is for us to take control of what's happening in our country and world, and that starts by ensuring we have accurate information. Your investment in independent media and in tools like Ground News help us all become better empowered to understand the world around us.