JTA – The New Jersey newspaper that has been harshly criticized for leaving a title with an anti-Semitic slur in an article has fired at the photographer responsible for the caption.
Over the weekend, a caption in Gannett’s Asbury Park Press, accompanied by a photo of a female Orthodox nurse, read: “A hot f *** ing nurse, full JAP, loads a syringe with a dose of the Vaccine Moderna COVID-19. “He went with a story of vaccine inconsistency for people of color on the Jersey coast.
Acting editor Paul D’Ambrosio apologized Monday to “women, the Lakewood Jewish community, the Asian American community, and all of our readers,” noting that the photo was taken in the town of Lakewood, home to a large crowd of Orthodox judges.
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In an updated apology Tuesday, D’Ambrosio said “That reporter is no longer with the company.” He wrote that the paper initially thought his site had been investigated. In fact, the caption went online without a second pair of eyes as usual.
“Fu * king hot nurse, full JAP, loads a syringe with a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine”
With this DISGUSTING antisemitic, misogynistic caption reporter Gustavo Martínez Contreras got fired from his work at a paper in New Jersey.
More: https://t.co/sjJYoDjv5x pic.twitter.com/QCWExTQ45u
– StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) March 24, 2021
“We took immediate and serious action once we became aware of the issue, and changed our online procedures to ensure that this does not happen again,” D’Ambrosio said.
The name of multimedia reporter Gustavo Martínez Contreras, who made headlines last year for his arrest while covering a racial justice complaint following the murder of George Floyd.
The caption drew a range of local politicians, including New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who called it “unfathomable.”
