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| Governor Christie turns a blind eye to the many police chiefs making more than $200,000 a year. |
The "jobs crisis" leads The Record today, with a report from The Associated Press that is missing any contribution from the staff of the Woodland Park daily.
So, what do readers get?
They get several paragraphs discussing unemployment's impact on President Obama's chances in the 2012 election, but not a single interview to find out why employers are not hiring, despite huge cash reserves.
Man loves dog
The major element on Page 1 today is a feel-good story on dog rescues by Staff Writer Jay Levin, who has written so many local obituaries he could introduce himself as "Mr. Death."
Don't the photos of humans and dogs on A-1 and A-6 just break your heart? Only problem is when was the last time Editor Francis Scandale ran a story about orphans -- the human kind -- on the front page or anywhere else in the paper?
At the end of the work week, most of the focus is on the Sunday edition, so the Saturday paper is pretty much an afterthought -- good for stories that can run anytime, like dogs rescued from "notorious" shelters.
Copping out
The third A-1 story is the first in ages on the ridiculous pay and benefits of one of those petty police chiefs in North Jersey -- pals of Governor Christie, who came down hard on school superintendents making more than his annual salary of $175,000.
The police chiefs also have friends in high places at The Record, which has never questioned why Christie didn't impose a similar salary cap on the crass brass.
It seems the Elmwood Park police chief, Donald Ingrasselino -- already paid $205,000 in 2010 -- has collected nearly $30,000 in overtime in 2010 and so far this year, even though there is no OT provision in his contract.
On Page A-10, letters from Paul White of Ridgewood and David B. Jordan of Edgewater expose Christie for the fraud he is.
Jordan wrote: "Christie is the poster boy for the plutocrats [a controlling class of the wealthy].... He will continue to make things worse for us."
More cop news
Yet another story reporting the indictment of Hackensack cops leads the Local section, the pride and joy of head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her clueless minions.
A far better choice for L-1 would have been a non-cop story from Hackensack, such as the one on L-3 today.
Board of Education member Rhonda Williams Bembry was reprimanded for "improper" comments on the hiring of school personnel at board meetings and in e-mails.
But the story doesn't quote any of her "improper" comments -- apparently because The Record didn't bother to cover the meetings on June 8 and Aug. 23.
Boy, you've got to love an assignment desk that seems to be off in La-La Land.
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If it weren't for the auto ads they could have taken the day off.
ReplyDeleteI agree. But that ad revenue is all Publisher Stephen A. Borg is interested in.
ReplyDeleteAll the editorial stuff, as weak as it is, gets a "good enough" from the spoiled multimillionaire.
The panic-stricken people of NJ as just as much to blame for a police chief who makes over $200K a year and is paid OT. In 20 years the majority of the people in Bergen County will be priced out of living in this area.
ReplyDelete