MONTREAL - The company that owns Maclean's magazine has expressed regret over an issue that has caused an uproar in Quebec.
Federal and provincial politicians have lambasted the magazine for this week's issue that tagged Quebec with the unflattering label of Canada's most corrupt province.
"The cover of this issue and the feature story clearly offended some readers, and this has been the subject of much debate," Brian Segal, president of Rogers Publishing (TSX:RCI), said in a statement Thursday.
"On behalf of the company, we sincerely regret any offence that the cover may have caused."
The magazine has steadfastly refused to apologize -- and says it's Quebec's politicians who should be sorry.
In fact, its answer to those politicians was defiantly stamped Thursday in an editorial on the front of the magazine website.
But Rogers has extensive business interests in Quebec, including its French-language magazine L'Actualite and cellphone shops. It was a little more contrite.
It sought to distance itself from the editorial choices of Maclean's staff.
"We value all of our customers and their perspective. Quebec is an important market for the company and we look forward to participating in the dynamic growth of the province and its citizens," Segal said.
"As a company we own a broad range of media properties across the country and editorial independence is an important cornerstone of our management philosophy.
"While challenging at times, this means we do not interfere with the editorial direction or content of our media properties in any way."
In its statement the company did not, however, use the words "sorry" or "apology."
