The Washington Post Express has been forced to apologise after its front page caused outraged over a flawed choice of image accompanied a story on women’s rights.
It wasn’t long after the Express, a free daily newspaper published by the Washington Post, released its Thursday edition on Twitter that readers picked up on the startling oversight.
The picture mistakenly depicted the Mars symbol, also known as the male symbol, rather than the Venus symbol, associated with female gender.
The Post Express used the image to accompany a story on the upcoming demonstration supporting women following the inauguration of Donald Trump.
Reaction to the choice of imagery came in thick and fast.
The Express Twitter account soon published an apology and a re-designed front page.
”We made a mistake on our cover this morning and we’re very embarrassed,” the publication wrote. “We erroneously used a male symbol instead of a female symbol.”
The furore unfortunately distracted from the story inside the paper.
Trump’s election campaign was marred by evidence of his misogyny - including his comments about grabbing women “by the p***y”.
The Post reported this week how more than 100,000 people have registered their plans to attend the Women’s March on Washington.
The event is now expected to be the biggest demonstration linked to Donald Trump’s inauguration, energising activists on the left who oppose his agenda.
The Huffington Post UK has contacted the Washington Post, which publishes the paper, for further comment.