Caught in a racial row over a 'monkey' cartoon, interpreted by many as a caricature of US president Barack Obama,
New York Post chairman Rupert Murdoch apologised on Tuesday, terming it a "mistake".
In a statement published in the newspaper, Murdoch took responsibility "for what is printed in its (the paper's) pages" while defending the intent of the publication.
"Last week, we made a mistake. We ran a cartoon that offended many people. Today I want to personally apologise to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted," he wrote.
The media moghul said he had understood "the hurt this cartoon has caused," but maintained that the "only intent was to mock a badly written piece of legislation".
"I can assure you 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," he said.
Murdoch also promised to be "more attuned to the sensitivities of our community".
The cartoon published by the the right-wing Post showed apolice officer telling his colleague who had just shot a chimpanzee that "they'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."
The New York Post last week apologised for the controversial cartoon, depicting the drafter of the US economic stimulus package as a chimpanzee.
Many people, including New York governor David A Peterson protested, saying the cartoon compared Obama with the chimpanzee and thus evoked memories of racist past.
The inspiration for the cartoon came from an incident in Connecticut where a police officer shot dead a 200-pound chimpanzee after it attacked the owner's friend and then tried to attack the officers.
The cartoon was drawn by Sean Delonas. What added fuel to fire was that on the reverse side of the cartoon, a photograph of Obama signing the stimulus bill into law was published.
The Democratic leaders demanded explanation from the paper, saying that several people felt outraged by it.
Angry demonstrations were also witnessed outside the paper's offices and threats of boycott were also issued.
