Last Friday, the New York Post apologized for a cartoon it had run earlier in the week, one that used a dead chimp as a stand-in for the author of the stimulus, an image that for some harkened back to old racist comparisons between monkeys and African Americans. Today, the Post's owner, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, offered his own apology.
Murdoch -- who, a biographer wrote last week, was probably "livid" over the cartoon -- took to the pages of his paper to say this:
As the Chairman of the New York Post, I am ultimately responsible for what is printed in its pages. The buck stops with me.
Last week, we made a mistake. We ran a cartoon that offended many people. Today I want to personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted.
Over the past couple of days, I have spoken to a number of people and I now better understand the hurt this cartoon has caused. At the same time, I have had conversations with Post editors about the situation and I can assure you -- without a doubt -- 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.
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