The Rev. Al Sharpton wasn’t satisfied with the partial apology he got from the New York Post over a “racially offensive” cartoon. And now he’s taking its parent company to the Federal Communications Commission.
Earlier this week, the newspaper apologized to anyone who might have been offended by the image, which some say likens President Barack Obama to a violent chimpanzee gunned down by police in Connecticut.
On Thursday, after a series of protests by notable figures including director Spike Lee, the paper posted an editorial on its Web site saying the cartoon was meant to mock the federal economic stimulus bill, but “to those who were offended by the image, we apologize.''
But the Post also charged that some critics of the cartoon were opportunists looking for payback.
"To them, no apology is due," the editorial read.
That “sorta sorry” didn’t quite cut it for Sharpton or the NAACP, which urged a boycott of the New York Post and called for the firing of Post editor-in-chief Col Allan and longtime cartoonist Sean Delonas, whose drawings have caused many a stir over perceived racist, sexist, anti-gay or other offensive implications.
For Sharpton, the battle doesn’t end with the Post. He and other city council members are petitioning the FCC to change the rules so News Corp., which owns the Post, Wall Street Journal, Fox News and a host of other media, can’t own two newspapers and two TV stations in the city, according to the Daily News.
"You can stem protests because you own so much of the media. People can't question you," Sharpton said on his weekly radio show. "Advertisers are reluctant to pull out because you own so much of the media market."
Sharpton hopes to pull together 1 million online signatures this week to show lawmakers how many oppose News Corp.’s expansive media control, reported the Daily News. Other council members are requesting the demographic makeup of the Post staff and insisting that the city pull all advertising and cancel all subscriptions, the paper reported.
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Protests against the Post’s cartoon have continued throughout the week – from universities to the Internet to News Corp.’s front door on Sixth Avenue. And it doesn’t appear they're going to relent anytime soon.
Some have challenged the protesters. What about one’s First Amendment right to free speech?
"You have the freedom to do it, and we have the freedom to make you pay for it," Sharpton countered, according to the Daily News. "We can hardly fight back if he [Rupert Murdoch] owns half the newspapers in town and half the TV stations."
