Editor teaches Obama a lesson

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An oyster festival in Asbury Park "will feature foods," The Record reports.

In  his speech to Congress, President Obama scolded Republicans for their "political circus" and chastised the media for their fixation on polls and the 2012 election as the nation's crippled economy limps along.


The Star-Ledger, The Times of Trenton, Asbury Park Press and most other New Jersey dailies put the president's call to action on the front page today, but Editor Francis Scandale wanted to teach Obama a lesson for questioning the media's judgment.


So, Scandale demoted Obama to Page A-8, and devoted most of The Record's front page to 10-year-old news about 9/11 -- in another example of how the editor's famously flawed news judgment is a disservice to readers.


Flights of fancy


Staff Writer Lindy Washburn did a great job on how a small Canadian town with a long runway became a refuge for 38 passenger jets when U.S. airspace was closed on 9/11 (A-1).


But does this decade-old story of international hospitality deserve nearly half of the front page and a full two pages inside? 


And are the unlabeled first 10 paragraphs of italic type on the front page a contemporary account from Gander, Newfoundland, or what?


Were other stories held to accommodate this behemoth?


The other elements on A-1 today are more flooding news and Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson's review of the billions of federal dollars spent on local security since 9/11, a story that consumes another three-quarters of a page inside.


Colorblind


The A-4 story on the swearing in of Anne Paterson to the state Supreme Court neglects to mention she was originally nominated to replace the only black justice, John Wallace Jr., whom Governor Christie declined to reappoint.


The A-11 story and photo of a "seemingly intoxicated moose" in Sweden is such a waste of space, the Woodland Park daily's wire editor must be tipsy, too.


Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin is well-acquainted with the Port Authority's historical disdain for mass transit, so why doesn't he say so in an editorial criticizing the bi-state agency for charging a state agency, NJ Transit, to use PA crossings and bus terminals (A-22)?


Lazy, hazy days


You know Road Warrior John Cichowski is desperate for material when he devotes an entire L-1 column to one driver's Top 10 list of irritating motorists.  


Either that or he refused to leave the office and do some reporting on commuting problems. 


Cichowski leads my Top 10 list of irritating editors and columnists.


On L-2 today, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes runs filler on a Teterboro Airport Aviation Hall of Fame expo, one day after a preview in Better Living.


Monsy Alvarado, the reporter assigned to Hackensack, wrote more than 20 inches today on a discovery motion in an assault complaint against the South Hackensack police chief (L-3).


Eat me


In her 3-star review of St. Eve's in Ho-Ho-Kus, Staff Writer Elisa Ung tells readers the beef she sampled was naturally raised, but is silent on the pork.


She ran out of room after wasting the first five paragraphs of the review on the chef's resume and his previous restaurants (Better Living centerfold).


A photo caption has the chef's name under his wife's image and vice versa.


On Page 22 of Better Living, an ad on the 34th annual Festival of the Sea in Point Pleasant Beach recalls the editors' recent error two days in a row,  confusing that town with the borough of Point Pleasant.


To save face, Scandale ran no corrections.


An item on Page 26 notes the oyster festival in Asbury Park "will feature foods."