 Image via Wikipedia |
| Tolls are going up for New Jersey buses. Above, the midtown Manhattan bus terminal. |
The Port Authority raised Hudson River tolls and PATH fares on Aug. 19, so why are readers of The Record just finding out today the hikes apply to thousands of NJ Transit and private buses, too?
Tolls will hit buses hard
Strapped operators may pass hike on to riders
Editor Liz Holton's news copy desk tries hard to sell the Page 1 story with those headlines, but no bus company quoted says it has decided to raise fares to compensate.
The $4 toll on buses is going up 150% -- to $10 on Sept. 18 -- and will continue to rise every year until it tops out at $13 in 2015, Staff Writer Karen Rouse reports.
There are holes in this story big enough for a No. 165 NJ Transit bus.
Pedestrian reporting
Rouse doesn't say whether the toll hikes apply to all those commuter vans --which take the overflow from NJ Transit and other operators -- because Editor Francis Scandale told her their riders speak little English and don't buy the paper anyway.
And Rouse doesn't bother questioning Port Authority officials on what huge bus toll hikes say about the bistate agency's commitment to mass transit.
Three embarrassing corrections appear on A-2 today, including the use of an incorrect photo for a 9/11 victim. But both men are dead and can't sue.
I don't think hapless flood victims will be amused by Margulies' cartoon caption: "Shower ... Rinse ... Repeat ..." (A-10).
Water on the brain
In an OpEd piece by James Ahearn, the former managing editor doesn't mention how strongly the paper's editors oppose a tunnel to funnel flood waters to Newark Bay (A-11).
Head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes has argued that without repeated flooding, her local-news assignment desk -- the world's laziest -- wouldn't have anything to cover.
Commuters hoping for news besides the toll hikes on buses won't find anything today from Road Warrior John Cichowski, who is on litter patrol (L-1).
Staff Writer Melissa Hayes has another Englewood story today (L-3), her fourth in four days.
However, Hackensack reporter Monsy Alvarado seems to be covering everything but the city she is assigned to.
I'm surprised Your Money's Worth Columnist Kevin DeMarrais didn't call first before schlepping into the city on a bus, only to find the French tourist office had moved and is no longer open to the public (L-9).
But at least DeMarrais provides readers with more information on how online reviews on Yelp and other sites can be manufactured to put restaurants in a good light.
Second look
Most photographers aren't "word people," but Thomas E. Franklin's moving piece on 9/11 photographers on Tuesday showed he is both an accomplished photographer and an accomplished writer.
In fact, his lean, powerful style puts to shame Columnists Mike Kelly, John Cichowski and others who seem to be pushing around words or whose florid prose leaves readers dumbfounded.
so right about franklin.
ReplyDeleteYou are avocating someone sue when the wrong mugshot is dropped onto a page?
ReplyDeleteOf a dead person. Imagine how the family feels.
ReplyDeleteWhy not sue? Might keep the editors on their toes. Nothing else seems to work on their bone-headedness.
Ah, the ol' wrong mugshot lawsuit. Reminds me of the time The Campus, my old college newspaper, ran a photo in its April Fools edition of a woman purported to be the campus hooker. They went digging around in the electroplates at the printing shop for a one column picture that they could use, and wound up printing a photo of the college's oldest living female alumna. And guess who did sue.
ReplyDelete