The Detroit Free Press apologized online to readers Wednesday after publishing a graphic detailing how to make a pressure cooker bomb -- the same kind of device that news that may have been used during Monday's explosions at the Boston Marathon that killed three and injured more than 170.
Pointing out the ease in which "a common kitchen utensil becomes deadly," the images and text shared information regarding the essential parts needed to build a pressure-cooker bomb and how it works, with instructions like, "TNT or other explosives put in 6.3 quart (6-liter) pressure cooker, along with metal shards, nails, ball bearings to inflict maximum injury."
According to the media blog Romenesko, which published a blurred version of the graphic, the paper removed the image online after receiving furious comments from readers on Twitter and Facebook.
A page titled, "Graphic: A pressure-cooker bomb," published at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday evening, is now empty.
Journalist Jim Romenesko reached out to the Free Press for comment. Replied DFP editor and publisher Paul Anger, "It was an error in judgment, which we regret. The graphic was far too detailed and we’ve unpublished it everywhere we can."
Stefanie Murray, assistant managing editor for digital at the paper, responded similarly to angered readers on Facebook.
"We apologize," she wrote. "It was an error in judgment that we regret, and we've removed it everywhere we can."
The graphic was credited to the Washington Bureau of McClatchy Newspapers/Chicago Tribune, according to Deadline Detroit. The graphic remains published online in other outlets, including the Herald and News of Klamath Falls, Oregon and McClatchy DC.
Al Qaeda also reportedly published a detailed description on how to craft a similar bomb in its 2010 online magazine, according to the Associated Press.
Hat tip: Romenesko.
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