First, I doubt there would be any chance of you getting any sort of penalty due to the fact that explosives were mentioned. If this were the case fireworks manufacturers would be out of luck as far as SEO goes!
Second, I have actually pulled something like this off in the past, but with a newspaper article. I would start off by contacting the author of the piece, seeing as how he/she is the one who is familiar and even might have a relationship with you company. They also often link to their contact forum or even put their email address on the page. If that doesn't work, I would say the webmaster is a solid backup plan. An editor at the publication should also be able to do it but I would say he/she is less likely to than the first two options. To increase your odds in your email, you might even want to include the hyperlink code you wish inserted to make it easier (also more likely) for them to add it.
Goodluck!
