WTF, Newsweek? News Site Tweets Photo of Martin Luther King Jr. in a Casket

Updated Monday, Jan. 1, 2018, 5:04 p.m. EST: Shortly after this post went live, Newsweek issued an apology to Bernice King for the insensitive photo from its Twitter account: Suggested Reading Three Friends Were Headed To A Beyoncรฉ Concert, But One Dies On the Way. Guess What The Other Two Did Next? Our Fave Moments…

Updated Monday, Jan. 1, 2018, 5:04 p.m. EST: Shortly after this post went live, Newsweek issued an apology to Bernice King for the insensitive photo from its Twitter account:

Video will return here when scrolled back into view
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?
https://twitter.com/Newsweek/status/947932503586803714?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Earlier:

Newsweek is catching hell on the first day in 2018, and it all stems from a photo accompanying a tweet for an article titled, โ€œHas Anyone Seen My Old Friend Martin?โ€

https://twitter.com/iskandrah/status/947924135912538113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Instead of tweeting out a photo of Martin Luther King Jr. when he was alive, some idiot social media editor decided to tweet a photo of King in his casket. And of course social media was livid.

https://twitter.com/YesYoureRacist/status/947923372381437952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/_Alpha_Bravo/status/947919735114563586?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/yoda/status/947919643078987782?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Kingโ€™s daughter Bernice King couldnโ€™t believe what she was seeing:

The article the photo referenced was a repost of an article that first appeared on the Council on Foreign Affairs site, which listed historical anniversaries of note for 2018.

April 4 will mark the 50th anniversary of MLKโ€™s assassination. There are tons of other photos of King on Getty Images and AP Images (like the one used at the top of this post), but who would pick such a tasteless photo of King in a casket?

Newsweekโ€™s tweet was eventually deleted, but no explanation or apology was issued. Of course.

Straight From The Root

Sign up for our free daily newsletter.