LI publisher apologizes for photos mocking Obamas

The publisher of the Smithtown Messenger issued an apology to readers in Thursday's edition of the 124-year-old weekly after using a photo that mocked President Barack Obama and his wife last week.

"We can't apologize enough to anyone that we may have offended - that was not our intent," said Philip Sciarello, editor and publisher. "We may not always agree with the President's policies, but we respect the office he holds."

While apologizing, Sciarello in his editorial defended the paper's right to publish what he termed a "satire" piece.

"We are mindful that the satire seemed to some in poor taste," he wrote, "At the same time, we reject the notion that elected officials at any level, or of any race, creed or color can hold themselves . . . immune from satire."

He noted that the president himself came under fire when he joked last weekend about sending "deadly predator drones" at the Jonas Brothers, idols of the presidential daughters. "We are as confident he was not serious as we are that our satirical content meant no disrespect," Sciarello said.

The controversial spread showed presidents and their wives, dating back to Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn, when they first took office and after they left. Accompanying a picture of the Obamas was a second photo showing a scene from the old TV show "Sanford and Son" in which Sanford's sister-in-law Aunt Esther posed in a fighting stance with star Redd Fox. Critics including the state head of the NAACP, Hazel Dukes, called the depiction racially motivated.

Officials of the newspaper said they pulled the photo spread off the Internet, where it had circulated for months. "We threw it in there as a filler," said Sal DiPiri, co-publisher.

The apology comes as the Suffolk County Legislature's Democratic majority appears poised to remove the Messenger as an official county newspaper at its meeting next Tuesday. The removal could cost the paper about $50,000 a year.

Brookhaven had already dropped legal ads as of Tuesday from the Messenger's sister papers, the Brookhaven and Ronkonkoma Review. Sciarello said it means about $4,000 to $5,000 in lost business. "Will it hurt? No question," Sciarello said, adding it will not threaten the paper's future.

The controversy, Messenger officials said, delayed them from putting out the paper Thursday morning as normal. They expected to have the papers in stores by nightfall. Sciarello said he has gotten about two dozen calls in the past week, but they have been evenly split. He added that inquiries have come from as far away as Kentucky and Texas, and the incident also spurred media stories from News 12 Long Island and three New York City TV stations.

Sciarello said he has no plans to fight the county action though he has been talking to officials privately. But he is concerned about the larger questions of press freedom.

"We've lost the freedom of the press now," he said, "We have government telling us what we can use."