A tabloid is making good on an offensive article that labeled a police officer who suffered disfiguring burns in a crash while on duty as "ugly."

American Media Inc., owner of the Weekly World News, ran a list of the ''top 10 ugliest people'' in its Feb. 7 issue featuring a post-surgery photo of the disfigured officer and his wife.

The tabloid agreed to make a donation to the Foundation for Burns and Trauma as an apology to the officer and his family.

The amount of the donation to the foundation, which provides care to burn victims in Arizona, was not disclosed. But, those involved called it ''significant.''

Officer Jason Schechterle suffered fourth-degree burns to his hands and face when his patrol car was hit from behind by a taxi and exploded in flames in 2001. He was so badly burned that surgeons had to strip away his face, that was covered in dead tissue, to save his life.

Schechterle says of the donation, ''Something bad has been turned into something very good."

American Media - which owns the tabloid featuring articles on UFOs and the whereabouts of Elvis - fired the employees responsible for the inclusion of Schecterle's photo in the ''ugly'' list.

Stuart Zakim, senior vice president for American Media, says the tabloid is ''incredibly happy'' to make the donation.

The photo that appeared in the Weekly World News was taken by The Associated Press for a series of award-winning stories chronicling Schechterle's accident and fight to recover.