A fashion magazine owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp was forced to apologise after it used a controversial image of a woman in underwear and on her hands and knees to advertise an intern position.
The provocative advert featured a model, wearing only lingerie and a pair of high-heeled shoes, on a bed with 'interns wanted' written across it. It was posted on the Instagram page belonging to Sunday Style, a weekly fashion and beauty insert with a circulation 900,000.
The "sexist" advert, which has since been removed from its Instagram page, caused outrage when it was highlighted by journalist Suzanna Carbone, who posted the image on Twitter.
One Twitter user blasted it as "demeaning", while others questioned how the magazine thought it appropriate to use the image in the first place.
The publication later insisted it takes its intern scheme "very seriously" when it published an apology on Instagram, which read: "We made an error in judgment today with an image used in a recent Instagram post calling for interns that has since been taken down.
"We take our intern program seriously and apologise for any offence caused."
- Independent