Image by birdphone via FlickrAren't we all sick and tired of the belly aching by Ridgewood residents opposed to the expansion of The Valley Hospital (photo)? This controversy is more than two years old, and there have been numerous stories about it, yet here it is again today on Page 1 of The Record of Woodland Park.
Were the editors desperate to put something -- anything -- on the front page? Did they ever play similar protests over the expansion of Hackensack Medical Center on A-1? What's so special about the Ridgewood protest? Is this journalism by demographics?
The news copy editor probably thought the headline was really clever: "Hospital expansion called a health hazard." And the reporter actually quotes residents alleging years of construction will expose children to "potential hazards." One hallucinating protester refers to Ridgewood as "our little village." Can't you hear the violins?
I can think of several construction projects in Hackensack on school routes (there is no busing in the city). What about the hazards Hackensack kids walking to school are exposed to? Don't black and Hispanic kids count in the eyes of the editors?
Another headline on Page 1 appears to suggest teachers are stalking the state education czar. Was this head intended to be ominous?
Teachers track their target
Some observers would suggest it's the teachers who are the targets of state aid cuts and pension reform.
In Local, there are detailed stories on two trials in Superior Court, Paterson, but none on cases in state court in Hackensack. For another day, news of Hackensack , Teaneck or Englewood is missing, likely due to the incompetence of the assignment desk under Deirdre Sykes. But there is a long story on a murder in Butler -- outside the paper's circulation area.
For at least the fourth year, Food Editor Bill Pitcher has prepared his annual guide to grilling -- which appears today in Better Living -- and for at least the fourth time, he omitted any mention of how processed meats, such as hot dogs, and charring food have been linked to cancer. Good appetite.
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At least if readers do enjoy a summer of grilled hot dogs and chargrilled steaks, they can rest assured that there will be plenty of room for them in an expanded Valley Hospital.
ReplyDeleteTouche. That's tying the news together.
ReplyDeleteI call for article #19 on the Englewood Rabbi who lives next door to the home owned by the Libyan Government.
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember those stories. The rabbi snookered the paper a lot. Later, The Record had a story on a book he wrote about Michael Jackson. Young reporters don't have finely tuned bullshit meters -- to them anything or anybody saying anything is a story. The paper's assignment editors aren't much better. It's a sad situation.
ReplyDelete