Murdoch Apologizes for Controversial Cartoon in NY Post

Rupert Murdoch, the top executive for News Corp., which owns the New York Post, issued an apology today for a recent cartoon that was viewed as a racist insult to President Barack Obama.

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.

NY Post Apologizes for Controversial Cartoon

The New York Post offered an apology for publishing a cartoon that criticized the stimulus program, but was viewed as a racist attack on President Barack Obama by civil-rights activists, including the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Late last night, the newspaper published an editorial, headlined "That Cartoon", that said the drawing was meant to mock the stimulus package:

Wednesday's Page Six cartoon - caricaturing Monday's police shooting of a chimpanzee in Connecticut - has created considerable controversy.

It shows two police officers standing over the chimp's body: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill," one officer says.

It was meant to mock an ineptly written federal stimulus bill.

Period.

But it has been taken as something else - as a depiction of President Obama, as a thinly veiled expression of racism.

This most certainly was not its intent; to those who were offended by the image, we apologize.

However, there are some in the media and in public life who have had differences with The Post in the past - and they see the incident as an opportunity for payback.

To them, no apology is due.

Sometimes a cartoon is just a cartoon - even as the opportunists seek to make it something else.

NY Post: Newsday's Mancini, Henley Not at Work; Is Krenek Next Editor?

Keith J. Kelly of the New York Post is writing today that Newsday Editor John Mancini and Managing Editor Deborah Henley have not reported for work for the fifth straight day, fueling speculation that Cablevision has fired the duo. The story did note that Managing Editor Debby Krenek is Mancini's likely successor, and has been in meetings at the Melville office.

"It's bizarre," said one insider, who was left wondering who's in charge ahead of today's coverage of the history-making inauguration of Barack Obama as president.

Added another insider, "If any of the top editors know what's going on, they're not telling anyone."

Meanwhile, Debby Krenek, another managing editor, was seen in the paper's Melville, LI, offices after being absent Thursday and Friday.

Her presence yesterday fueled speculation that Krenek, who's primarily in charge of Newsday's online edition, might be tapped by owner Cablevision to replace Mancini.

"She's here, but she's in a meeting," said a person answering Krenek's office phone.

There has been no confirmation or comment of any kind from Newsday and Cablevision officials.

Rumors Abound About Status of Newsday Editor Mancini, Top MEs

Newsday's James T. Madore wrote today that Cablevision and Newsday officials would not comment on the status of editor John Mancini, and managing editors Deborah Henley and Debby Krenek. Whether the three were still employed was the subject of a story by Keith J. Kelly in Sunday's New York Post that was based on unnamed sources and speculation.

The gist of the Post story is this:

"Nobody knows what's going on," an insider said. "At first, we just assumed [the meeting] meant more layoffs, because advertising was off by 40 percent last quarter."

A rumor making the rounds had the Dolans furious over Newsday's coverage of a sexual-harassment suit filed against Knick center Eddy Curry by his former chauffeur. Cablevision, which owns the Knicks, the Rangers and Madison Square Garden, bought Newsday from the Tribune Company last July for $650 million.

When Mancini, Henley and Krenek failed to show up for work Thursday and Friday - as papers scrambled to cover the US Airways crash in the Hudson River - it ignited speculation that they were summoned to Cablevision offices Thursday and asked to justify their jobs.

Adding to the intrigue, Mancini's office had been cleared out by Friday morning. And by last night, voicemail was not connecting to any of the top three editors.

At least the Post was able to quoted "a rumor making the rounds." Madore's story responded with this:

But newsroom sources told Newsday that Henley was involved in the coverage Thursday of the US Airways plane downed in the Hudson River, and another source said Krenek was in New York City for scheduled meetings.

Voice mails for the three editors were back on yesterday after a wider outage had been corrected. Their names also continued to appear on the masthead.

Yesterday, Cablevision spokesman Charles Schueler referred questions to Newsday spokeswoman Deidra Parrish Williams, who declined to comment. Mancini would not address any questions. Publisher Timothy P. Knight, Henley and Krenek did not return telephone messages left for them.

Once again, no sources were quoted by name, which in itself isn't a ringing endorsement. I'd hate to see Mancini go. One, on a personal level, we worked side-by-side at Newsday for years (he did rise much higher in the organization than I did!), and I always liked the guy. But on a professional level, he's one of the best in the game. He can get to the root of any story, especially a New York story, and he knows what readers want and need. It would be a shame if he lost his job because he stepped on Cablevision's toes over the Curry story. If it is the case, the three of them are better off leaving.

Obama Contests NY Post on Reported Request to Stall Iraqi Troop Withdrawal

Sen. Barack Obama's spokeswoman Wendy Morigi told the media today that the campaign is challenging Amir Taheri's column in today's New York Post. Taheri had reported that Obama, while on his Mideast trip during the summer, had asked high ranking Iraqi officials to delay a decision on U.S. troop withdrawal until after the November election.

"This article bears as much resemblance to the truth as a McCain campaign commercial. Barack Obama has consistently called for any Strategic Framework Agreement to be submitted to the U.S. Congress so that the American people have the same opportunity for review as the Iraqi Parliament," Morigi said. "Unlike John McCain, he supports a clear timetable to redeploy our troops that has the support of the Iraqi government. Barack Obama has never urged a delay in negotiations, nor has he urged a delay in immediately beginning a responsible drawdown of our combat brigades."

NY Post: Obama Tried to Stall Iraqi Troop Withdrawal Until After Election

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebar told Amir Taheri of the New York Post that Sen. Barack Obama tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the U.S. military presence until after the November elections and the formation of a new American administration.

In this morning's report, Taheri writes:

"He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington," Zebari said in an interview.

Obama insisted that Congress should be involved in negotiations on the status of US troops - and that it was in the interests of both sides not to have an agreement negotiated by the Bush administration in its "state of weakness and political confusion."

"However, as an Iraqi, I prefer to have a security agreement that regulates the activities of foreign troops, rather than keeping the matter open." Zebari says.

Though Obama claims the US presence is "illegal," he suddenly remembered that Americans troops were in Iraq within the legal framework of a UN mandate. His advice was that, rather than reach an accord with the "weakened Bush administration," Iraq should seek an extension of the UN mandate.

While in Iraq, Obama also tried to persuade the US commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, to suggest a "realistic withdrawal date." They declined.

Obama has made many contradictory statements with regard to Iraq. His latest position is that US combat troops should be out by 2010. Yet his effort to delay an agreement would make that withdrawal deadline impossible to meet.