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In a statement on the website of his tabloid The New York Post, which printed the cartoon, Murdoch said: "Last week, we made a mistake. We ran a cartoon that offended many people. Today I want to personally apologize."
Murdoch said the cartoon poked fun at the economic stimulus plan pushed by Obama, America's first black president.
It "was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately it was interpreted by many as such," Murdoch said.
The cartoon featured Travis, a real-life chimpanzee shot last week by police in Connecticut, near New York, after it had attacked a woman.
In the drawing, two policeman stand over the chimp's body. One says: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."
The NAACP, a civil rights organization, dismissed the apology and said the cartoon was deeply offensive.
"Mr Murdoch's apology comes only after almost a week of tens of thousands of expressions of outrage and disgust from people across the country," said Benjamin Todd Jealous, the NAACP president and CEO.
"The offenders are still on staff and there are no measures being taken to increase diversity in its newsroom. The apology from Mr. Murdoch is sadly too little, too late."
Jealous said that "African Americans have historically been compared to primates as a way to dehumanize the entire group. We were called monkeys while we were being brutally lynched and denied equal civil and human rights."
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Murdoch said the cartoon poked fun at the economic stimulus plan pushed by Obama, America's first black president.
It "was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately it was interpreted by many as such," Murdoch said.
The cartoon featured Travis, a real-life chimpanzee shot last week by police in Connecticut, near New York, after it had attacked a woman.
In the drawing, two policeman stand over the chimp's body. One says: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."
The NAACP, a civil rights organization, dismissed the apology and said the cartoon was deeply offensive.
"Mr Murdoch's apology comes only after almost a week of tens of thousands of expressions of outrage and disgust from people across the country," said Benjamin Todd Jealous, the NAACP president and CEO.
"The offenders are still on staff and there are no measures being taken to increase diversity in its newsroom. The apology from Mr. Murdoch is sadly too little, too late."
Jealous said that "African Americans have historically been compared to primates as a way to dehumanize the entire group. We were called monkeys while we were being brutally lynched and denied equal civil and human rights."
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