Gannett Newspaper describes frontline Jewish nurse as “f-cking hot nurse”,”Total JAP”

Gannett Newspaper describes frontline Jewish nurse as "f-cking hot nurse","Total JAP"

LAKEWOOD, NJ The largest newspaper at the Jersey Shore, the Asbury Park Press is under fire today after a photo of a Jewish nurse administering a COVID-19 vaccine at a Lakewood Township area clinic was published with a misogynistic and anti-Semitic caption.

In a photo taken on February 25th, at the CHEMED vaccination site, photographer Gustavo Martinez Contreras, the Lakewood Township beat reporter had this to say.

“A f-cking hot nurse, a total JAP, loads a syringe with a dose of the ModernaCOVID-19 vaccine during a [sic] in the Center for Health Education, Medicine and Dentistry vaccination tent in Lakewood, New Jersey,” he wrote in a photo caption of the event that was headlined by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.

Gannett Newspaper describes frontline Jewish nurse as "f-cking hot nurse","Total JAP"

On Saturday, he plugged that photo into another story about vaccinations in underserved communities.

The misogynistic caption was not only sexist and demeaning to women, but it also was Anti-Semitic. The term “JAP” refers to a “Jewish American Princess”. In slang terms, it is used to describe young Jewish women who some feel may be spoiled, self absorbed and only interested in material items.

It is generally viewed as being anti-Semitic and should never find itself on the pages of a Gannett Newspaper. Newspaper editor Paul D’Ambrosio issued an obligatory apology, but fell short of saying whether or not there will be penalties imposed upon Martinez or the editorial staff in charge of reviewing the content of the newspaper’s online website.

“Late on March 20, a photo ran on APP.com with an unapproved and offensive caption. The photo was removed March 21 as soon as it was brought to our attention,” D’Ambrosio said. “As executive editor of the Asbury Park Press, I apologize deeply to women, the Lakewood Jewish community (where the photo was taken), all members of the Jewish faith, the Asian American community and all our readers.”

Ocean County News

D’Ambrosio said the words published by Martinez in the caption were totally unacceptable and in no way reflect the principles and practices of the staff of the Press and Gannett.

Governor Phil Murphy said somebody should lose their job.

“I would think, with all due respect, someone has to pay a price for that. That’s completely, incredibly offensive, The governor said. “Even the apology missed the point.”

New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith who represents Lakewood Township in Washington, D.C. echoed Murphy’s call for action

“It was shocking—and out of character—for the Asbury Park Press to post a highly offensive photo caption that was both demeaning to women and anti-Semitic,” Smith said. “The dedicated Jewish health care professional photographed working on the front lines giving COVID vaccinations to members of her community should have been praised and respected—not used to express the writer’s contempt for women.”

Martinez has not issued an apology yet publicly.

New Jersey News

The photo also highlights another topic of growing tension between Jersey Shore municipalities and the newspaper. By state law, all municipalities and schools are forced to spend millions of dollars per year combined in legal advertisements. The Asbury Park Press is the only newspaper in Ocean County that fulfills the legal requirements set forth by the state. By default communities served, or underserved by the newspaper spend hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in advertising in a newspaper few in the county receive.

Now, according to the Lakewood Scoop, the Township of Lakewood announced it is severing ties with the newspaper. An alternative has not been named.

The Asbury Park Press is a Gannett Newspaper which leans left and focuses on many gender, race, religious and social bias issues in society. The newspaper has a track record of being hostile to local law enforcement agencies.