Image by romulusnr via FlickrI pulled into a parking space at my polling place Tuesday afternoon and rubbed my eyes. Could that be Monsy Alvarado, the reporter assigned to cover Hackensack for The Record of Woodland Park? Judging by how little she writes about the city, could be this one of those rare times she was actually covering a story in the paper's former home?
I waved to her, then went inside to cast my vote for the school budget and three candidates for the school board. When I came out, I interrupted her conversation with a man and asked why she hasn't been covering Hackensack. She said she couldn't talk to me because she was speaking with or interviewing the man. But she said I could call her.
Today's paper carries her bare-bones, seven-paragraph story with election results, and Hackensack residents are quoted elsewhere in the paper. But there is no explanation for why two incumbents were bounced off the board.
On the front of Local, Englewood reporter Giovanna Fabiano's story provides absolutely no context for readers on the defeat of the budget in that city, except for reporting the mayor's last-minute campaign against the tax levy. (Last week, the Teaneck schools superintendent was ordered to withdraw a letter asking for residents' votes in support of the budget there. Go figure.)
Fabiano has done her best to ignore segregated elementary and middle schools in Englewood. Has she even updated readers on integration efforts at the high school? (A black student in the Academies@ Englewood in Dwight Morrow High School told me the other day she cannot use copiers at the school unless she brings in her own paper.)
What about the role of the many Orthodox Jews and other white residents -- who send their children to private schools, as former Publisher Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg did with Jennifer and Stephen -- in the defeat of the budget? Is Fabiano going to report the vote by ward in a follow, and get to the bottom of what happened?
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Not sure if it's a lack of effort by the reporters, or the turnaround time involved before deadline and needing to fill those pages with something. I do know that the weekly editors were supposed to call The Record with the final numbers. Why The Record can't ask the municipalities themselves, I don't know. More misusing of the weeklies by The Record.
ReplyDeleteCopy editing oversight in your headline.
ReplyDeleteAre you referring to "sighting"? Here's the definition:
ReplyDeleteThe act of catching sight of something, especially something unusual or searched
for: a sighting of a whale in the harbor; a reported sighting of a UFO. ...
Cheers
As to Anonymous' comments, there was a time when reporters for The Record did rely on calling the municipalities. I guess now there is more "synergy."
ReplyDeleteI think he's referring to "Hacke-snack," a rare freudian slip from your food blogger alter ego.
ReplyDeleteThey might of been busy with a 23rd story on the Englewood Rabbi who lives next door to the residence owned by the Libyan government.
ReplyDeleteOK. I see I spelled Hackensack wrong in the headline. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anonymous. I didn't see "snack" until you pointed it out.
ReplyDeleteTrue, Shakuey201.
ReplyDeletevery typical of you to interrupt the reporter. your manners were always atrocious.
ReplyDeleteso the Englewood Schools are officialy segregated?
ReplyDeleteOh, please. She was just talking with this man, not taking notes.
ReplyDeleteOfficially segregated? What does that mean? Virtually all the students attending the elementary and middle schools are black and Hispanic. I don't know how many whites are attending the high school's academies, since there hasn't been any reporting about it for years. The Record is aiding and abetting segregation by not reporting it, just as the parents who send their kids to private schools are aiding and abetting segregation.
ReplyDeleteoh I see....well why didn't you wait like any other gentleman until she was finished 'talking with this man' and then you could have had your turn?
ReplyDeleteGive me a break, Anonymous. Wait my turn? Is Monsy royalty?
ReplyDeleteYou have a lot of criticisms about the paper here. I'd be intrested in knowing just what you think the record does well. It must be doing something well covering some stories well don't you think?
ReplyDeleteI'd have to think about that. The Record made its reputation as a local newspaper, so if it's not covering local news in its biggest communities.... Basically, the fault lies with the assignment desk headed by Deirdre Sykes. Her assistants aren't very impressive, and really don't know the communities we are supposed to cover. Sykes and Editor Frank Scandale seem unable to inspire their reporters to great work, and Scandale is still talking about his accomplishments a decade ago at another newspaper.
ReplyDeletePublisher Stephen Borg has a "good enough" philosophy that translates into mediocre journalism. Now, it seems, readers are being given even less food news than before, and the obesity epidemic is basically being ignored. Less isn't more, when it comes to newspapers.
I'll tell you some things the Record does well. It has a good photography staff, with people like Tom Franklin, Don Smith and Carmine Galasso. It has an excellent obituary writer in Jay Levin. The business department covers real estate pretty well with people like Kathy Lynn, and it has tremendous design and editing talent in its business layout person Kim Kline. Kevin Demarrais is a good consumer advocate. And its web site is lively with a lot of entry points on the main page.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Aaron. I agree with you, and just want to point out all of the people you praise are veterans. You forgot to mention some of the young reporters -- Ashley Kindergan, Michael Gartland, Matt Van Duesen, Sachi Fujimori and others -- who are at the top of their games. As for the other, inexperienced young hires, especially in features, I feel they are dumbing down the paper. They simply don't know enough about their subjects and don't see their roles as setting the public agenda. Much of this comes from their lazy, incompetent editors -- many of whom were the same kind of mediocre reporters they are now supervising.
ReplyDelete