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Tony Doris said he never shied away from controversy during his lengthy career at The Palm Beach Post, a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper in the backyard of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
Mr. Doris, 67, investigated local government, digging into city affairs in West Palm Beach, Fla., over two decades at the paper, most recently as editorial page editor. He didn’t expect his career there to end over a cartoon.
Gannett, the largest newspaper company in the United States and the owner of The Palm Beach Post, fired Mr. Doris last month after he decided to publish a cartoon about the war in Gaza, Mr. Doris said. The cartoon set off a backlash in Palm Beach, including a rebuke from a local Jewish group that claimed the cartoon was antisemitic, resulting in a quick response from Gannett’s senior editors.
Mr. Doris said in an interview last week that the cartoon was antiwar, not antisemitic, adding that he thought Gannett’s senior editors lacked the fortitude to stand up for their journalists.
“They’re afraid of their shadow,” Mr. Doris said, adding, “I think it speaks to a misunderstanding or failure to engage with the mission of an editorial page.”
In a statement, Gannett said that the cartoon “did not meet our standards,” adding that it “would not have been published if the proper protocols were followed.” The company did not say what those protocols were or comment on Mr. Doris’s termination, citing confidentiality.