Road Warrior errors are running rampant

With power still out in large parts of Teaneck, Hackensack and other towns, and many streets closed to traffic, two township officers held a schmoozefest on Nov. 2 at Cedar Lane and River Road, four days after Hurricane Sandy hit. Why didn't they get out of their warm cruisers and direct frustrated motorists who had to make long detours? The Record's editors fears criticizing the effectiveness of local police, because the paper depends on the release of information about crime, arrests and related issues.

Editor's note: A dedicated reader continues to e-mail editors of The Record, including Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza, about all of the errors appearing in the Road Warrior column, which is written at least 3 times a week by Staff Writer John Cichowski, who is clearly weary of the assignment he's had since late 2003. Of all the errors cited by the reader, only one minor correction has been published. Cichowski also receives the e-mails.

Dan & John,

I have e-mailed you 10 separate times about significant problems with reporting for 10 of the Road Warrior columns directly related to transportation issues between 9/12 - 11/4/12.

As I stated to you, I am publicizing to other media personnel, news sources, and your readers about these Ten Incompetent, Misleading, or Incredibly Dumb columns about road warrior issues.

While Dan has acknowledged my e-mails twice, you have failed to respond to any of the problems and mistakes that I have raised or my 2 follow-up e-mails to Dan's responses.

Attached is a document that highlights the key problems from my 10 e-mails to you about these 10 articles.   It shows the 10 Road Warrior columns included:

1. 43 Misleading and/or False Statements, which included 59 false or incorrect items

2. Useless and/or Misleading Advice - 4 times

3. Useless Long Winded, Misleading Stories that Wasted Readers' Time - 8 times

In these specific stories, which should never have been published, the Road Warrior exhibited empathy about people, who should have known better, that exhibited no common sense to easily solve their own problems and/or exacerbated their own problems by making all the wrong decisions about their unsubstantiated claims.

4. Not Addressing Reader's Questions Directly or Correctly - 3 times
-------------------------------

These types of problems have also been frequently apparent in other Road Warrior articles, which I have not specifically addressed, during this same period of 9/12 - 11/4/12, as well as in many of the Road Warrior columns that I have followed over the past 3 years.

In the past 3 years, I have also previously e-mailed John and pointed out some of his most significant gaffes in order to allow him to update and correct this information to his readers in a subsequent column so that his readers can be properly informed.

John either ignored my e-mails or responded to me with denigrating comments about my viewpoints and never made the required corrections based on the known facts that contradicted his statements both in his columns or his follow-up e-mails.

These problems start with misleading, incomplete, confusing, or false/incorrect information that is mistakenly reported. 

Based on mistaken or incomplete reporting about relevant info & issues, the Road Warrior many times further confuses or misleads readers with his reviews, misstatements, or biased or preconceived opinions that contradict or misinterpret facts about the issues.

This does not promote the integrity of The Record and offends informative readers.

Unfortunately, these misleading reviews/opinions and mistaken/false info are a small part of the problem with many Road Warrior columns.

John's lack of knowledge about certain issues also shows he does not even read his own newspaper or read online comments from his own readers that would have answered many of his clueless questions or prevented him from reporting false info.

The requirements and purpose of applicable NJ statutes are sometimes misstated or incorrectly explained in contradiction to the actual text of the statutes.

Reported statements and claims from officials and experts sometimes contradict readily available facts concerning the reported issues.

Reported info is sometime incomplete since it excludes key relevant, readily available facts that are critical for readers in order to avoid misleading or confusing them about the issues.

Reported info sometimes contradicts scientific properties or physics.

Reported info & the Road Warrior's conclusions many times simply contradict the actual info and stated conclusions in the referenced reports/studies in his column.

All these problems become most frequently glaring and troubling when there are incomplete or wrong responses to reader's questions, some of which are senseless and do not deserve to be published. 

Many times there is reporting on recommendations, comments, or handling of situations, incl. some that show a complete lack of respect of others or NJ laws, by everyday people.  I also find that sometimes the reported recommendations or questions by everyday people or responses to questions are unsafe or not compliant with NJ statutes.

There is a frequent habit to NOT directly answer a reader's specific question.  Instead, a response is provided with unrelated or somewhat related info, which has been repeated recently in other recent columns within the past year or that may simply not be correct.

As I stated before, many times Road Warrior reporting is very informative and useful.

Here's hoping to change and better fact checking, corrections, reviewing (Googling?), and screening of stories, questions, & answers in the Road Warrior columns by Record's editors, columnists, & reporters, for more reliable, accurate, and common sense info prior to publication.  

==================

Dan,

It appears The Record has not been committed to correcting false or incorrect info, which contradicts the actual facts, incl. 4 items that I showed for the most recent 10/24 article.

Current tally for 8 previous Road Warrior articles that I identified (9/12 - 10/24):

No. of Statements with False/Incorrect Info - 24

Number of  Corrections by The Record - 1 minor correction

Two examples of this are noted below.  Please explain why these 2 false statements from the 9/23 article do not need to be corrected by The Record.

False Statement  - Federal figures show that drivers older than 75 are involved in MORE [total] fatal crashes than any other age group

FACTS - Federal figures (See NHTSA or any other study or data base) show that drivers older than 75 are involved in LESS total fatal crashes than any other age group.

False Statement - ITN has at least 2 advantages over transportation organizations like EZ Ride in that its 24-hour service is NOT limited to medical visits.

FACTS - EZ Ride also provides service that is NOT limited to medical visits.

Unfortunately, the mistaken/false info is a small part of the problem with many Road Warrior columns.

The text from applicable NJ statutes are sometimes misstated or incorrectly explained in contradiction to the actual text of the statutes.

Reported statements from officials and experts sometimes contradict readily available facts concerning the reported issues.

Reported info is sometime incomplete since it excludes key relevant, readily available facts that are critical for readers' reference.

Reported info sometimes contradicts scientific physical properties related to car fluids or ice/snow.

Reported info & the Road Warrior's conclusions many times simply contradict the actual info and stated conclusions in referenced reports/studies.

Based on mistaken or incomplete reporting about relevant info & issues, the Road Warrior many times further confuses or misleads readers with reviews, misstatements, or somewhat biased or preconceived opinions that contradict or misinterpret facts about the issues.

All these problems become most frequently glaring and troubling when there are incomplete or wrong responses to reader's questions, some of which are senseless and do not deserve to be published. 

Many times there is reporting on recommendations or handling of situations, incl. some that show a complete lack of respect of others or the law, by everyday people.  I also find that sometimes the reported recommendations or questions by everyday people or responses to questions are unsafe or not compliant with NJ statutes.

There is a frequent habit to NOT directly answer a reader's specific question.  Instead, a response is provided with unrelated or somewhat related info, which has been repeated recently in other recent columns within the past year or that may simply not be correct.

As I stated before, many times Road Warrior reporting is very informative and useful.

Here's hoping to change and better fact checking, corrections, & reviewing (Googling?) by Record's editors, columnists, & reporters, for more reliable, accurate, and common sense info prior to publication.

=======================


Dan,

Thanks for your response.

Please advise if The Record has acknowledged with any published corrections for any specific mistakes that I have identified in the 7 Road Warrior columns that I commented on.

If yes, please advise which mistakes and where/when each mistake was acknowledged and corrected.