Media / Washington Post Washington Post Cartoonist Skewers Her Own Newspaper Decision not to endorse a presidential candidate is drawing internal flak By John Johnson, Newser Staff Posted Oct 27, 2024 7:28 AM CDT Copied People walk by the One Franklin Square Building, home of The Washington Post newspaper, in downtown Washington, in this file photo. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) The decision by the Washington Post not to endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential race is being roundly criticized—by the Washington Post. Or at least by some prominent staffers of the newspaper owned by Jeff Bezos. Cartoon: Pulitzer-prize-winning illustrator Ann Telnaes published a cartoon titled "Democracy Dies in Darkness," lampooning the slogan the newspaper adopted in 2017, reports the Guardian. The image consists of swirls of black paint that cover the entire cartoon panel. See it here. 'Mistake:' A joint column calling the decision not to endorse a "horrible mistake" had been signed by 18 of the newspaper's columnists as of Sunday morning. The decision "represents an abandonment of the fundamental editorial convictions of the newspaper that we love," it reads. Big voices: NPR takes note of two more notable Post figures writing op-eds against the decision: editor and writer Ruth Marcus (here) and editor and columnist Karen Tumulty (here). "If this change in policy regarding presidential endorsements was a stand on some long-ignored principle of our past, why did the newspaper wait until just 11 days before the election to announce it?" asked Tumulty. (More Washington Post stories.) Report an error