When a significant or major event occurs around Stamford one can count on The Advocate to cover it. And unfortunately, frequently, The Advocate will do something to leave readers appalled.

Just a short time after the tragedy had occurred in Newtown, the Advocate  published an article in the paper talking about a different Sandy Hook Elementary school being opened. Directly to the right of the article was an ad for an upcoming gun show, which is quite the unfortunate accident. While it may just have been an unlucky mishap, this was a mistake that easily could’ve been avoided. A quick skim of the paper prior to print or release would have stopped the local paper from making national news. There is a standard that quality publications uphold, and because of mistakes like these, The Advocate falls short of being a quality publication.

This isn’t the first time that the paper has been subject to lazy, distasteful work and poor editing. The paper has shown issues before with what is just downright sloppy journalism. After the death of SHS student Kyle Cruz, despite The Advocate stating that they would not release the name to respect the family’s wishes (the family wanted time to notify relatives who didn’t live near Stamford), they  released photos which showed his house and what street it was on, and directly mentioned his name in the article. The article originally featured a direct quote from a Stamford High coach mentioning Kyle’s name in it, making it painfully obvious for any reader who it was. Even after the article was corrected, the photos remained in the story, and there was no mention of any changes made (it is typical for there to be some indication if the story has been edited or corrected).

Evidently, The Advocate has been guilty of poor journalism on more than one occasion. Their covering of a recent death is another example of this. Just this past Friday, May 30^th Carmine Passero, a substitute teacher who worked frequently worked at Stamford High, was hit by a car and killed. On their website, The Advocate had photos of the shoes and pools of blood where the event occurred. The comments of the story were riddled with readers who were appalled that the publication had the gall to put up such photos.  Many seem to think this was a disrespectful gesture to Mr. Passero. Either way, it’s very clear The Advocate needs to polish up their act. There is a standard that newspapers have to follow and meet in order to be able to considered quality publications. And because of the distasteful gestures which we have seen in the past, The Advocate just isn’t quite there yet.