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| Has NJ Transit put up fences or taking other safety measures to prevent pedestrians from crossing the tracks at the New Bridge Landing station in River Edge, above? |
Robert Schroeder, the state assemblyman from tiny Washington Township, is doing a good imitation of a Littleneck clam.
In the third installment of his growing legal problems on Page 1 of The Record today, Schroeder had nothing to say to reporters.
He also was mum in Tuesday's front-page story, but on Saturday, the Republican lawmaker (or should that be lawbreaker?) blamed his financial and legal problems on the poor economy and President Obama.
Editor Marty Gottlieb and head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes seized on those quotes to sensationalize the initial story, then came to their senses:
Obama's name has been missing in subsequent stories.
Anyway, readers are sick and tired of reading about Schroeder's mismanagement of his company, which sells tents and other items to the U.S. military.
Is he any good as an assemblyman? The stories don't say.
News breakdown
The biggest element on A-1 today is a tedious statistical analysis of delays on NJ Transit trains that completely misses the big picture.
Governor Christie's lack of commitment to mass transit and the Port Authority's refusal to expand the PATH rail system are just two of the reasons there is little room to accommodate drivers who want to escape massive rush-hour traffic jams and exorbitant tolls.
Today's story -- which fills a full inside page, complete with an incomprehensible graph -- is an example of Computer Assisted Reporting.
Office-loving reporters
But what commuters deserve is Legwork Assisted Reporting, where the Road Warrior and other transportation writers get off their well-padded posteriors, ride the buses and trains, and really stick it to the agencies that run them.
Sadly, transportation reporting appears to be under the guidance of Dan Sforza, the deputy assignment editor who once covered transportation himself, but who spent most of his time writing about "highways of the future."
Trespasser or victim?
In Sykes' Local section, a gee-whiz rollover accident photo dominates L-1.
The lead L-1 story suggests "a lot" of pedestrians cross the tracks in River Edge where a woman was struck and seriously injured on Tuesday afternoon.
The story labels her a trespasser, but doesn't say whether NJ Transit has put up fences or tried other safety measures just north of the New Bridge Landing station.
Most of today's section resembles a police blotter.
Hackensack news
Page L-3 carries police news and news about the police in Hackensack, where the department launched a program allowing "anonymous tipsters to send information about crimes via test messages, cellphone apps or the city's Web page."
That makes many readers wonder when The Record will launch a similar program allowing local-news tips to all those editors and reporters too lazy to leave the Woodland Park newsroom.
On L-9, the third Business page, I was surprised to learn consumer columnist Kevin DeMarrais shops at Walmart, despite the giant retailer's well-known reputation for poor working conditions.
On L-9, the third Business page, I was surprised to learn consumer columnist Kevin DeMarrais shops at Walmart, despite the giant retailer's well-known reputation for poor working conditions.
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