Asbury Park Press editor steps down after more than 40 years with newspaper

Paul D’Ambrosio has left the Asbury Park Press after a career in journalism that began covering a Model UN meeting in Toms River in the spring of 1980 and ended after a three-year stint as the newspaper’s executive editor.

“After 41 years at the Press, I thought it was high time I moved on to the next adventure in my life,” D’Ambrosio said.  “It has been my honor to work for one of the finest papers in the country, first as a reporter, then investigations editor then executive editor.”

D’Ambrosio departs during a period of extreme turmoil at Gannett, the national newspaper chain owner who purchased the Asbury Park Press in 1997.

Reporters from six Gannett-owned daily newspapers in New Jersey, including the Asbury Park Press, staged a one-day strike on Friday to protest cost-cutting measures at the national newspaper chain that have resulted in layoffs, furloughs, and a decision not to fill key vacant positions.

Gannett reported losing $54.1 million during the third quarter of 2022, despite cost-cutting measures that included over 400 layoffs nationally in recent months.  The company lost $53.8 million in the second quarters.

D’Ambrosio was the creator of the highly regarded DataUnivere.com, which allows the public to access government records.

“Along the way, my teams and I fought for your Right to Know about how the government spends your money, the myriad problems that we exposed so they could be fixed – and always telling the stories that make the Jersey Shore the best place to live,” he said in his exit statement.