Caught in a racial row over a ‘monkey´ cartoon, interpreted by many as a caricature of US President Barack Obama, New York Post Chairman Rupert Murdoch on Tuesday apologised, terming it a “mistake”.
In a statement published in the newspaper, Murdoch took responsibility “for what is printed in its (the paper’s) pages” while defending the intent of the publication.
“Last week, we made a mistake. We ran a cartoon that offended many people. Today I want to personally apologise to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted,” he wrote.
The media moghul said he had understood “the hurt this cartoon has caused,” but maintained that the “only intent was to mock a badly written piece of legislation”.
“I can assure you that the only intent of that cartoon was to mock a badly written piece of legislation. It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such,” he said.
Murdoch also promised to be “more attuned to the sensitivities of our community”.
{{/usCountry}}Murdoch also promised to be “more attuned to the sensitivities of our community”.
{{/usCountry}}The cartoon published by the the right-wing Post showed a police officer telling his colleague who had just shot a chimpanzee that “they’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.”
The New York Post last week apologised for the controversial cartoon, depicting the drafter of the US economic stimulus package as a chimpanzee.