A quick update on the controversy over same-sex marriage announcements in the New Jersey Jewish Standard which announced that it would no longer run same-sex marriage announcements after its first one caused a controversy.

James Janoff, the publisher of the paper, announced the outpouring of criticism over the decision to halt such announcements has prompted a further review of the policy.

We ran the wedding announcement because we felt, as a community newspaper, that it was our job to serve the entire community — something we have been doing for 80 years.

We did not expect the heated response we got, and — in truth — we believe now that we may have acted too quickly in issuing the follow-up statement, responding only to one segment of the community.

We are now having meetings with local rabbis and community leaders. We will also be printing, in the paper and online, many of the letters that have been pouring in since our statement was published.

We urge everyone to take a step back and reflect on what this series of events has taught us about the community we care so much about, and about the steps we must take to move forward together.

It’s good to see the paper is reconsidering its position. The comment sections of the paper have been fascinating to read and I’m impressed by the respectful tone of the conversation.

NLGJA’s Rapid Response Task Force is preparing some guidance and information for the paper to help guide them in their decisionmaking and to encourage them to include same-sex announcements in their paper as part of fair and accurate coverage of their community.