Ten days after a Golf Channel anchor was suspended for her use of "lynch" in commentary on Tiger Woods, an editor was fired Friday for illustrating the controversy with a noose on the cover of Golfweek magazine.
Dave Seanor, vice president and editor who took responsibility for the noose cover of the Jan. 19 issue, was replaced by Jeff Babineau.
"We apologize for creating this graphic cover that received extreme negative reaction from consumers, subscribers and advertisers across the country," Turnstile Publishing Co. president William J. Kupper Jr. said. "We were trying to convey the controversial issue with a strong and provocative graphic image. It is now obvious that the overall reaction to our cover deeply offended many people. For that, we are deeply apologetic."
Turnstile is the parent company of Golfweek, which has a circulation of about 160,000.
Golfweek removed its Jan. 19 issue from its booth at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla., while Babineau made the rounds on news talk shows to offer more apologies. The magazine also removed the cover from its Web site.
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem called the Golfweek cover "outrageous and irresponsible" and accused the magazine of tabloid journalism. He distanced himself from the firing of Seanor with a statement from the PGA Tour that Finchem merely was responding to an inquiry, and that his comments were not a "call to action."
Woods, out of public view for the last month, makes his 2008 debut on the PGA Tour next week at the Buick Invitational, where Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman returns from a two-week suspension.
Woods has not spoken publicly, although his agent said in a statement through Golf Channel last week that Woods and Tilghman are friends, and "we know unequivocally that there was no ill intent in her comments."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080118/..._editor_out_10