A reporter for Asbury Park Press in New Jersey is no longer working for the Gannett-owned newspaper after the publication of an offensive photo caption over the weekend.
The caption, posted on Sunday under a photo of a nurse preparing to vaccinate someone, described her as a “hot nurse” and used the acronym for “American Jewish princess”. It was withdrawn shortly after publication.
“This was an unforgivable act. The objectification of women and religious insults are intentional actions, ”wrote Paul D’Ambrosio, the newspaper’s executive editor, in a message on Tuesday on the Asbury Park Press website. “The reporter in question is no longer with the company.”
D’Ambrosio did not mention the name of the reporter, but the New Jersey Globe, which first released the story, identified the reporter as Gustavo Martinez Contreras.
D’Ambrosio did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment. Contreras could not be found.
The newspaper is also changing its photo approval process after the scandal, according to D’Ambrosio’s public posting and internal documents seen by The Hill.
“Our credibility in the community is fundamental to our success,” said D’Ambrosio in an email to the newspaper’s staff. “Whatever the delays, the cause of the above PCOS is irrelevant compared to the damage [of the] offensive sentence. “
He also asked employees to “avoid commenting on this subject on social media or anyone in the media who may contact you.”
D’Ambrosio said in his public statement that the caption appeared online because of a “system [that] allows employees to post directly to our website and mobile app. We trust the professionalism of our employees and we know that speed can be important in covering breaking news. This system has been in use for almost a decade, and in our set of more than 250 publications, we have not had an incident similar to this. “
D’Ambrosio told officials in his memo that, going forward, “all captions and photo galleries must be reviewed by two pairs of eyes” and these reviewers must place their initials next to their approvals.
“As a content creator, it is your responsibility to ask the coach or producer or even another employee to review the package in a timely manner to ensure that the above is never repeated,” added D’Ambrosio.