Rupert Murdoch personally apologizes for controversial cartoon.
Rupert Murdoch personally apologizes for controversial cartoon.
News Corporation chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch issued a rare apology today for the controversial chimpanzee cartoon that ran in the New York Post last week. In the statement, he took full responsibility for the cartoon, saying the “buck stops with me,” and called the decision to run the cartoon “a mistake”:
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.
Ben Smith writes that the apology seems like “a rare sign of weakness, a hint that the strongest company in the conservative news media is having a hard time adjusting to the Obama era.”
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Satan must be wearing a parka today…
February 24th, 2009 at 10:35 amWow.
I think Murdoch is a maggot, but for a right-winger that was a real apology. Credit where credit is due.
February 24th, 2009 at 10:35 amNow for your pennance, do a head stand in a 10 gallon bucket of feces for one hour. Oh, yeah, and an Our Father.
February 24th, 2009 at 10:36 amdamn.
that’s it…. the end is nigh…
:-D
February 24th, 2009 at 10:36 amUnfortunately , Rupert , all the apologizing in the world isn’t enough to wipe away the stain that is FAUX Comedy Channel …..Or your existence.
February 24th, 2009 at 10:36 amNotice how he took full responsibility, even though the “without a doubt it wasn’t meant as racist” is suspect.
Jim Bunting couldn’t do that.
Nor usually anyone else on the right.
Hell, we had 8 years of anything but responsible.
Maybe, just maybe, the right is realizing that their is indeed change, and it revolves around people.
Nahhhhhh!
February 24th, 2009 at 10:38 amWell Rupe. If you really are contrite then start by firing the editor who approved the piece and the cartoonist who created it. And then while you’re on a firing spree, get rid of O’Lielly, Sean Manatee, Greta and the rest of the gratuitous creeps who spew lies daily from your television network.
Then we’ll believe your apology.
February 24th, 2009 at 10:38 amRupert Murdoch personally apologizes for controversial cartoon.
– - Personal note: I know Peter Chernin and this is not merely tangential to his decision to exit News Corp.
Call it an affirmation, nail-in-the-coffin, whatever.
February 24th, 2009 at 10:39 amWell. Good.
Now can you apologize for Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Fox News, and on and on and on and . . .
February 24th, 2009 at 10:40 amMurdoch’s empire is suffering; he is having a hard time accepting the popularity of Obama; his minions are desperately seeking rumors and gossip to spread – so he must offer an apology. I give him credit that it is a good apology — but what punishment will there be?
February 24th, 2009 at 10:40 amIt was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such.
It was not a matter of interpretation you shit stain.
February 24th, 2009 at 10:41 amIt was racist. The End.
Who knew that Murdoch was capable of a classier apology than his paper could muster up?
February 24th, 2009 at 10:43 amthat’s not an opology
an opology would have looked like this;
“it would definately be interpreted as rascist whether or not the author intended it and it should not have made it to publication”
that would be an opology
February 24th, 2009 at 10:45 amWhat a difference a young, beautiful, progressive wife can make !!!
February 24th, 2009 at 10:47 amThanks to the “latest” Mrs. Murdoch, the old man seems to be mellowing out. Only time will tell.
It was racist. I am glad he apologized. It was also violent, I really didn’t like that one bit.
February 24th, 2009 at 10:48 amWow. Just wow.
Take note, wingers, that is an actual apology. Please remember how to do it next time you try to pass off a “gee, so sorry if you took what I said out of context and are now trying to smear me with my own words, you communist librul” as an apology.
Nice, Murdoch. Now I must go wash my hands from typing that.
PEACE
February 24th, 2009 at 10:51 amYES FORCE THEM OUT!
February 24th, 2009 at 10:53 amBlame the victim.
With this cop-out you can say and do anything and not have to take responsibility for it.
February 24th, 2009 at 10:53 amMurdoch’s wife Wendy (iirc) and a couple of his sons lean more Moderate (though still Conservative) than Rupert and claim to have been getting him to understand the other side a bit better, so when he says he’s been “talking to people”, I’m sure he means “his wife and kids”. :)
February 24th, 2009 at 10:55 ammore from ben smith:
Rupert Murdoch’s apology — the first I can recall him making, for anything — for printing a cartoon that offended many is a seismic event at the New York Post and News Corp., and comes at an unsettled time: Yesterday, the company’s stock fell more than 4% on news that his longtime number two, Peter Chernin, is leaving.
*
fun.
:)
February 24th, 2009 at 10:57 amHow many times has The New York Post or Murdoch used an ANIMAL when depicting George W. Bush’s policies on ‘bad legislation or WAR’?
???????
February 24th, 2009 at 10:59 amBetter.
But I do hope that this affects the real source of the cartoon: the cartoonist itself. Sean Delonas has had a history of offensive cartoons. I don’t expect this leopard to change his spots right away.
February 24th, 2009 at 10:59 amfrom the FAST thread:
thanks joe and elbruce for the answer about murdoch…
so, it took talking “to a number of people” before he could “better understand the hurt this cartoon has caused.” … wow.
that life in a bubble mentality…
and i agree, sandoz, that “cartoonist” should be fired.
February 24th, 2009 at 10:59 am“It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such.”
_________
No matter how… “heartfelt” ***cough*** Rupert’s apology was, he still managed to slip in a denial, huh?
February 24th, 2009 at 11:01 amkaty Says:
from the FAST thread:
thanks joe and elbruce for the answer about murdoch…
so, it took talking “to a number of people” before he could “better understand the hurt this cartoon has caused.” … wow.
that life in a bubble mentality…
and i agree, sandoz, that “cartoonist” should be fired.
*
the “cartoonist”
has a history.
(}
February 24th, 2009 at 11:04 amThere was nothing wrong with the cartoon but the caption. It should have read: “We should have done this eight years ago and we wouldn’t need a stimulus package.”
February 24th, 2009 at 11:05 amCrusty Old Bastard Says:
There was nothing wrong with the cartoon but the caption. It should have read: “We should have done this eight years ago and we wouldn’t need a stimulus package.”
_____________
Good one…
February 24th, 2009 at 11:13 amYou win Poster of the Year with that one, Crusty Old Boy!
February 24th, 2009 at 11:13 amKudos!
Not only is it racist, but to me, the bigger issue is the violence and in particular, violence aimed at Obama. This is dangerously close to encouraging the assassination of a leader. Looking at the right-wing blogs and their response to Julian Bond’s concern about the promotion of assassination, they are freaking out. These blogs are read by the very people that can become unhinged pretty fast. We saw this kind of ugly mindset whenever Palin was campaigning.
Crusty Old Bastard Says:
There was nothing wrong with the cartoon but the caption. It should have read: “We should have done this eight years ago and we wouldn’t need a stimulus package.”
This would have been just as offensive, but such a caption would get the opposite response it now is from the right-wing.
February 24th, 2009 at 11:15 amEven if he doesn’t fire the editors to appease the likes of us, he should fire them for refusing to give up a proper apology, and thereby forcing him to do so. He shouldn’t have had to step in, they should have taken care of it themselves. But somebody on that editorial board is clearly a paranoid megalomaniac, going by the text of the “apology” they issued.
February 24th, 2009 at 11:17 amwinddancer Says:
This would have been just as offensive, but such a caption would get the opposite
response it now is from the right-wing.
_________
I hate to admit it, but… yer prolly right about that.
February 24th, 2009 at 11:20 amwinddancer Says:
“This would have been just as offensive, but such a caption would get the opposite response it now is from the right-wing.”
Winddancer,
I totally agree as that is exactly the point I was attempting to make. Both sides today insist on dealing only in the extremes. Such extremism always leads to the ultimate extreme: physical violence–the trade-mark of man. The wing-nuts on both fringes are the vocal fools and we all cater to them. There should be no need for apology as there was no need for the cartoon with either caption. The whole scenario should have been ignored.
February 24th, 2009 at 11:24 amBen Smith is an idiot. This is an indication of nothing. Murdoch didn’t have to apologize. The union of people that read the post and were offended by this dumb hack cartoon is insignificant.
This isn’t even a ‘non-apology apology’. The Pirate King didn’t say ‘Im sorry if anyone was offended’ he apologized to those that were offended.
I don’t like it when people dogpile on horrible people when they actually do something decent. No one should applaud Murdoch, but there is nothing to suggest this as a sign of weakness.
February 24th, 2009 at 11:25 amThis “apology” is strictly busines for Murdoch. The NAACP has gotten seriously involved in trying to have Newscorps. waver taken away that allows him to have a disproportionate piece of the media pie. This would force Murdoch to lose a portion of his media monopoly empire and THAT would be unacceptable to Murdoch, hence his “heartfelt apology”. Try again Rupe only this time FIRE your editors AND your cartoonist.
February 24th, 2009 at 11:29 amMr. Philby Says:
Stop the presses!
^
so this is where you’ve gone.
thing’s got a little rough for
you on the last post, eh?
*
good luck.
:)
February 24th, 2009 at 11:31 amThe old pirate has walked the plank.
February 24th, 2009 at 11:32 amThis. Also, in addition to the cartoonist having no common sense (im being charitable), he’s also been caught plagarizing from HIMSELF.
February 24th, 2009 at 11:37 am[Murdoch]: 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.
Oh, BS. Sean Delonas has been the epitome of disgusting bad taste in cartooning for a long time, and this is hardly the first time he’s drawn nasty and vile cartoons and gotten called on it.
Cheers,
February 24th, 2009 at 11:41 amDoes this mean Murdoch is going to stop being a racist partisan Republican hack, who uses his media outlets to distribute shameless fascist propaganda for the RNC?
I won’t hold my breath.
February 24th, 2009 at 11:44 amdeebaser Says:
Ben Smith is an idiot. This is an indication of nothing. Murdoch didn’t have to apologize. The union of people that read the post and were offended by this dumb hack cartoon is insignificant.
I don’t know… granted that Murdoch did the decent thing with this apology, it begs the question did he do it for reasons of decency or because the Post can’t afford not to? I’m not one to give a lot of credence to the notion that Rupert Murdoch does things based on concepts like decency. It has raised a pretty big flap, at least throughout Left Blogistan. And with his newspapers already bleeding cash at a regular basis, the last thing Murdoch needs is for them to start pissing people off left and right.
February 24th, 2009 at 11:55 amIf you’ve got nothing to say Mr. P, why don’t you just say NOTHING.
February 24th, 2009 at 11:59 amCrusty Old Bastard Says:
There was nothing wrong with the cartoon but the caption. It should have read: “We should have done this eight years ago and we wouldn’t need a stimulus package.”
I actually would have been offended with the cartoon regardlessly. Frankly, death has no place in this style of humor.
February 24th, 2009 at 12:02 pmAn apology, yes. Truth, no.
They did know that it was racist. No one is that dense.
~Peace
February 24th, 2009 at 12:09 pmGee, I’m not a New York Post reader so the apology apparently doesn’t apply to me. I saw the cartoon through the legitimate media and was deeply offended. I don’t register hits on their website, and occasionally tune into Faux news so I can see who their sponsors are so I DON’T PATRONIZE THEM!!! I encourage others to do the same. I also write letters to the sponsors so I can explain exactly why I don’t patronize them. I don’t care if they sponsor more responsible outlets! Faux is the deal breaker.
February 24th, 2009 at 12:16 pmThe last eight years should have taught us something, but we’re in such a hurry to declare victory against reich-wing fools, we forget the calculation with which corporate heads parse their ‘human’ side.
Make no mistake, Murdoch had a meeting or two to weigh which direction to take to make this ’situation’ go away. Some pr flack obviously advised him to issue a non-apology apology:
Regardé:
“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.
The mistake was running a cartoon that offended people, not running a racist cartoon.
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.
So Murdoch is essentially saying that he’s awfully sorry so many people misinterpreted the intent of the cartoon. That’s not an apology, that’s stating that a majority of people missed the point, and he’s so sorry they missed the point and experienced such pain.
“I’m so sorry our instructions were poorly written resulting in your dissatisfaction and we will redesign them to make them more clear.”
…Is a far cry from Murdoch’s type of ‘apology:’
I’m so sorry you misinterpreted our instructions, and the subsequent death ray you built, instead of the doll house, destroyed your garage. We’re sorry for your error.”
Oh, and as far as a ‘wingnut’ apology compared to a regular apology, wingnuts don’t get a lower bar just because they’re tantrum throwers. After eight years of lying, distortion and rewriting reality and history, Murdoch’s mea culps does not make a dent. His playing toy soldiers with the news resulted in untold slaughter and death of thousands, men, women and children.
Murdoch embodies the banality of evil; replete with his assemblage of little eichmanns.
Murdouch’s ‘apology’ is as faux as his ‘news’ division.
February 24th, 2009 at 12:29 pmWhat kind of shi* ass apology was that?
February 24th, 2009 at 12:34 pmGlad that’s over.
February 24th, 2009 at 2:18 pmStill don’t think the cartoon was racist.
saccoment says:Glad that’s over. Still don’t think the cartoon was racist.
February 24th, 2009 at 3:27 pmAre youThe Decider?
Filed under “non-apology apologies”
February 24th, 2009 at 3:48 pm@Pelotonpro 048
I didn’t claim to be. I expressed what I think.
February 24th, 2009 at 4:07 pmAnd I’m right, so yeah. I guess I am the decider.
Hey Sac, So you’ve spent a lot of time being a minority? It’s not clear to me that you do think!
February 24th, 2009 at 5:08 pmWhy? Because any depiction of a chimpanzee is automatically RACIST? Of course not. Sometimes a chimp is just a chimp, and a cartoon is just a cartoon.
Chimpanzee’s have long been said (mistakenly) to have the intelligence level of a 3-year old human child…. which is the basis of the (bad) joke in the cartoon…. that something with the intelligence of a young child old wrote the bill.
It so happened that there was a horrific story about a chimpanzee attack in the news. The timing was perfectly poor, but on another day the cartoon might have depicted a little Adam Walsh or maybe Forest Gump, either of which would have been in poor taste but not racist.
The offense at the image was formed in the mind of the offended. That’s not to say it wasn’t real, or that it isn’t real now. The leap from the cartoon to the conclusion is incorrect, but reasonable. The editors SHOULD have realized that before it went to print. However, the intent was benign.
btw – I’ve “been a minority” for 32 years, so think on my nutz.
February 24th, 2009 at 5:40 pmHey Sac, Good argument! Wrong but good. I hope you’re not the same minority that I am cause the nutz comment is demeaning YOU!
February 24th, 2009 at 6:38 pm“nellre Says: Blame the victim.
It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such.”
Did you just call the President of the United States a “victim”? Nowhere in the cartoon does the name, Obama appear, it references the “writer” of the stimulus bill, which we all know was Pelosi. How many of you “outraged” folks called Bush, “chimpy” in the last 8 years? As a white,(gasp) male,(oh no he did’nt) in my 50s, I’m constantly told I wasn’t “Created by God in his own image” but descended from, get ready, wait for it, here it comes, yes, A MONKEY.
February 24th, 2009 at 7:23 pmEvil Evil SCIENCE! Popatop apparently thinks that God is an old man with a white beard, literally sitting on a throne. I think I saw him at the mall last Christmas. It doesn’t surprise me that you don’t believe in evolution.YOU GOT MISSED!
February 24th, 2009 at 8:23 pm