Courier Times: We Wish We’d Picked a Different Cartoon
Yesterday, we told you about an editorial cartoon causing an uproar. The cartoon, by syndicated cartoonist Chris Britt, ran in the Bucks County Courier Times and showed a line of black children asking Santa to keep them safe from the police.
Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police head John McNesby called on the paper to apologize, writing “there is a special place in hell for you miserable parasites in the media who seek to exploit violence and hatred in order to sell advertisements.” He also wrote he hopes the paper folds.
Well! The Courier released a statement yesterday. It came short of apologizing — but did say the editors wish they’d picked a different syndicated cartoon:
Though we don’t know what was in the heart and mind of the award-winning syndicated cartoonist who penned the cartoon, it was selected for publication for thoughtful reflection on that relationship. It in no way was intended to indict the law enforcement community.
If we had recognized prior to publication that the cartoon would have caused unintended offense, our editors would have selected a different one for Sunday’s newspaper. Editing a newspaper is not easy and we don’t always get it right.
So, I guess they’re kind of saying they got it wrong — which is almost an apology.