More rehashing of the news

Image via Wikipedia

Should we praise the FBI for finally recognizing the threat of homemade bombs nearly a decade after 9/11, as The Record of Woodland Park does today by putting the story on Page 1? And who else brings us the news but Columnist Mike Kelly, chief rehasher at the former Hackensack daily.


If you want background on a big story, Kelly is the guy to go to. His column today is filled with lots of old news, but not much perspective on the failure of homeland security officials -- until now -- to recognize a threat that Israel and the rest of the world has known for decades -- the crowd-murdering, almost impossible to stop suicide bomber. Lucky for us -- and for homeland security officials -- the suspect in the attempted Time Square bombing was such a klutz.


The last time I saw Kelly, outside the paper's old headquarters in Hackensack, I told him the updated photo that runs with his column is unflattering. Is that a smile or a smirk? Is that his sport or suit jacket thrown casually over his shoulder? Is he trying to strike the pose of a model journalist or just a model?


Is he saying, Stick with me for the latest insight on the news, or Stick with me while I push words around and never go out on a limb with strong opinions columnists are supposed to express? It's the latter, of course.


The Local section is devoid of any news from Hackensack or Englewood, but Road Warrior John Cichowski has yet another column on teen driving decals and actually quotes adults who fear the decals will help sexual predators find their victims. I was a reporter and news copy editor at The Record for nearly three decades and worked on numerous stories about teen sex victims -- no one needed a decal to find a teen in those days, and no one needs one now.


In Better Living, Food Editor Bill Pitcher says you pay for quality -- not quantity -- at Rocca in Glen Rock, but never backs that up with any information about the provenance of the food, so readers can make an informed decision. (Pitcher and the other restaurant reviewer, Elisa Ung, who is on leave, have the word "quality" on a save/get key and throw it around with abandon, usually with no basis in fact.)


For example, a Rocca entree of four scallops for $31 seems high, as he suggests, but if they are from a day boat, they would be the freshest you could find and free of preservatives, and might be worth the price. Surely, the $70,000-plus food editor has heard of day-boat scallops?


He's not the only overpaid editor at The Record -- there's Frank Scandale, Deirdre Sykes, Frank Burgos, pals Barbara Jaeger and Liz Houlton, and on and on. The paper is top heavy with editors who attend a lot of meetings, but who have failed to stop its slide into mediocrity.



Today, hype is king -- as in Publisher Stephen A. Borg's "The Trusted Local Source" and North Jersey Media Group's "responsible journalism."

Sadly, the joke is on readers.