“Jewboy” Shows Up in Obituary in Inquirer and Daily News
When Wildwood’s John McGee died on October 5th, his loved ones contacted the local papers to memorialize the father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Apparently, McGee went by the nickname “Jewboy,” and that’s the nickname that showed up in the October 8th edition of the Inquirer and Daily News.
“It should have never ran,” admits newspaper spokesperson Jonathan Tevis. “We are taking action. It was an oversight and not good.”
The newspapers partner with Legacy.com, the world’s largest online obituary network. “We publish obituaries on behalf of Philly.com, in the language in which they send them to us, which is typically what they have received from the family or funeral home,” explains Legacy.com executive Hayes Ferguson. “We at Legacy focus our screening efforts on the entries to the Guest Books we add to the obituaries.”
On Thursday morning, the newspapers published a “corrected” obituary for John McGee, omitting the slur in question. They also included an apology:
We regret that the above death notice, printed Wednesday, October 8, included a nickname that many would find inappropriate and offensive. We apologize for this oversight, and are taking the necessary actions to ensure it does not happen again.
