Cincinnati newspaper apologizes after front page criticized

CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Enquirer has apologized for a front page blasted by the NAACP as “racially insensitive.”

The newspaper on Tuesday led with a story about City Council candidates with back-tax issues that included photos of six candidates, all of whom are black. The story headlined “Tax Troubles Dog Council Candidates” continued on an inside page with photos of three more candidates, two of them white, who have had tax liens.

The local branch of the civil rights organization called the story “a divisive hit piece.”

Interim Enquirer editor Michael Kilian wrote an apology in Thursday’s editions, saying the newspaper accepts criticism from the NAACP and others and recognizes “we’ve caused pain to many readers.” He writes that The Enquirer is reviewing internal procedures to “do better in the future. “