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| Snow falling off the roof of Cowboys Stadium is front-page news today. |
The Record of Woodland Park gushes today with sports-related coverage -- two stories on the front page, including the lead, and two more stories on the front of the Local news section.
But Editors Francis Scandale and Deirdre Sykes bury a story that speaks volumes about Bergen County's past and present -- the sad tale of a greedy developer who wants to tear down an historic Paramus house with ties to freed slaves (L-3).
No one should be surprised that coverage of the Mets' owners, the Super Bowl or sports injuries trumps coverage of North Jersey history and its African-American community. Just look at how unwelcome minorities have been in a newsroom ruled by Scandale and Sykes.
This is the second time recently that an interesting story by Staff Writer Stephanie Akin has been relegated to L-3, the usual repository of accident photos and other filler. Her report on conflicts between residents and outsiders at the Fair Lawn senior center also ended up there.
Today, her story about the firing of a Fair Lawn animal control worker over the release of a cobra photo leads the section. I don't call that sound news judgment. Akin is a hard worker and deserves better.
Local has a large news hole today, but no municipal news from Hackensack, Teaneck, Enlgewood or other important communities.
Also in the Local section, a story on L-2 today is credited to Daniel "Dan" Sforza, who was the deputy assignment editor and second-in-command to Sykes, the head assignment editor. This is the second time I have seen a story credited to him, but assignment editors don't usually do much of anything, let alone reporting and writing.
In the A-section, Scandale and Sykes don't bother correcting any of the errors in Friday's large census package on A-1 and A-6.
An editorial on A-11 today applauds "a good flush," the clean-out of the patronage mill known as the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners.
It just goes to show you how intimately familiar Scandale, Sykes, Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin and some of the columnists are with the stuff of bowel movements -- much of which adorns the pages of the former Hackensack daily today and every day.
Boy, they sure made a big deal out of the snake when the guy got bit.
ReplyDeleteThat included pumping the animal control officer for info.
Now that he himself is snakebitten, they don't care.
In an indirect way, they cost the guy his job. But instead of rallying to his defense, or raising any kind of stink (which an A1 would have done), they kick him to the curb.
Business as usual.
You're right. Both of Stephanie Akin's stories are strong enough for A-1.
ReplyDelete