By the end of last week, an editor at the Post finally made a non-apology apology for their racist cartoon after many in the community came out to protest the Post's actions. Since that did nothing to address the problem that the cartoon generated, the protests continued and the press surrounding the story became increasingly negative for the newspaper rag. So who else does the Post bring out but the head honcho himself to make yet another "apology."
From The Albany Project (because I refuse to link the Post anymore):
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.
We all hold the readers of the New York Post in high regard and I promise you that we will seek to be more attuned to the sensitivities of our community.
What Murdoch is make this look serious and even professional. It does not snipe and make childish remarks such as berating Al Sharpton and others that saw the cartoon and were compelled to give their time to protest the racist behavior of the cartoonist and editor who let it be published. Yet, it is still not a true apology. I put that sentence in bold up above because as the comments at The Albany Project show, there is no way to interpret this cartoon as anything but racist. You have to be racist in order to find humor in it. Mocking the stimulus bill is one thing, but to do it in this fashion is not only about the legislation Barack Obama had signed into law last week. I sincerely find it hard to believe that Murdoch's comments are nothing more than an attempt to kill the story that his paper has serious racist elements lurking inside.
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