Newsweek Under Fire For Lifeless Martin Luther King Jr. Photo

MEMPHIS, TN — Newsweek had an inauspicious start to the new year Monday when it tweeted out a picture of the slain civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. The publication quickly followed up with an apology and deleted the tweet as uproar over the lifeless image spread.

The photo of King, lying in his casket, accompanied a link to a story called “Has Anyone Seen My Old Friend Martin?” which looks at the major anniversaries coming up in 2018, including the 50th anniversary of King’s assassination.

Many on social media found the image jarring and insensitive including King’s daughter Bernice King.

“Why @Newsweek? Wow,” she tweeted.

“This is incredibly offensive and is, in fact, journalistic malpractice,” wrote Twitter user Alexandra Halaby.

Other news outlets called into question Newsweek’s judgment. “There are tons of other photos of King on Getty Images and AP photos, but who would pick such a tasteless photo of King in a casket?,” asked The Root Deputy Managing Editor Yesha Callahan.

Newsweek admitted the post was an error in judgment.

“Earlier this afternoon we published an opinion piece with an insensitive image of Martin Luther King Jr. We sincerely apologize to the King family for this egregious error,” company officials tweeted.

WARNING: Graphic image below.

Here is one of the tweets, along with Newsweek's apology.

Photo: 1964: American civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King Jnr (1929 - 1968). (Photo by Reg Lancaster/Express/Getty Images)