New section robs local-news readers

An old tree lost a big branch on Oct. 29 as Sandy's winds whipped Hackensack.

Since its debut on Sept. 6, a new Thursday section called Signature has been filled with local news and features exploring a theme: "DEFINING LIFE IN NORTH JERSEY."

Meanwhile, a daily section called Local has reached a low point in covering municipal news under head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza.

Given all the fatal and non-fatal accident photos, local obituaries, murder trials and other mayhem, perhaps Local should have a theme, too: "DEFINING DEATH IN NORTH JERSEY."

Of course, it's readers in Hackensack and other neglected communities who are dying a slow death as Signature sucks the life out of Local under the editorship of Alan Finder, who, like Editor Marty Gottlieb, is a veteran of The New York Times.

Is Gottlieb saying the local news and features appearing in Signature once a week are his only response to daily complaints from local readers?

Sandy and Morris

Today's Local front carries horror stories about the recovery effort in Hurricane Sandy's wake, and the obituary of Morris Zysblat, 99, a Teaneck man who died three months short of his goal of "joining the centenarian ranks."

The obit is unusual in that Staff Writer Jay Levin leaves out a cause of death, though he does say Zysblat "soldiered through four days of no electricity" after Sandy, and was "eating whatever he wanted" for more than a year, including pastrami, hot dogs and salami, cured meats that are filled with harmful preservatives.

So, did Sandy or cured meats or something else kill Morris Zysblat?

New Hackensack reporter

One Hackensack resident says readers who haven't seen any stories about their community in recent weeks may soon find relief in the assignment of a new reporter, Hannan Adely.

Adley's photo can be found on Twitter at the following link: Hannan Adely 

Sykes and Sforza apparently ordered the one-dimensional coverage of Hackensack by Staff Writer Stephanie Akin, who covered little more than the legal problems of former Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa. 

Pan-handling

God bless Maria Elena Schwartz, who actually makes her own chicken stock when preparing paella for her family (BL-1).

But the dish would be far better -- and healthier --  with store-bought organic stock and antibiotic-free chicken.

Does Food Editor Susan Leigh Sherrill -- who debuts a new feature on "home cooks and their signature dishes" -- really think there are more than a handful of readers who want to slave over the stove to put this dish on the table? 

There's that word again: "signature."  

   

See previous post on more Road Warrior errors