Murdoch: 'Buck Stops with Me' on Chimp Cartoon

Rupert Murdoch really doesn't want to face an NAACP-led boycott of his New York Post -- but nor, apparently, is he prepared to fire editor Col Allan.

The News Corp. chairman attempts to soothe the anger caused by last week's editorial cartoon tying a chimp attack to the stimulus bill -- and thus, say some, to Barack Obama -- with a personal statement of regret, published on page 2 of today's edition of the paper. [Update: See response from Al Sharpton below.]

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.

The humble tone of Murdoch's statement stands in sharp contrast to the grudging apology issued last week by Allan, who used the occasion to take a shot at Rev. Al Sharpton, one of the leaders of the protests. Sharpton is planning to demonstrate against the Post on the steps of City Hall today; he wants a review of its employment records to see how diverse its newsroom is and a reconsideration of the waiver that allows Murdoch to own more New York City media outlets than F.C.C. rules currently allow.

Update, 9:00 a.m.: A spokeswoman for Sharpton says he is "conferring with the leaders of different groups that are coming to support National Action Network at our press conference this morning and he will respond to Rupert Murdoch's unprecedented apology" then. The press conference will take place at 11:30 a.m. at City Hall.