The Record will never be the same again

Hurricane Sandy damage in the Rockaways. (dakine kane)

It's official. The Record today stops questioning the performance of utility companies in restoring power after Hurricane Sandy devastated North Jersey less than two weeks ago.

In the Sunday paper's news stories and columns, the editors are careful to avoid the question all of them should be asking:

Why did Public Service Electric and Gas Co., and other utilities need to call in hundreds of out-of-state workers to remove fallen trees and repair downed lines after the hurricane?

In other words, why do state regulators allow PSE&G to staff its repair crews at such low levels, especially in view of last year's freak snow storm, which hit two days before Halloween and left tens of thousands without electricity for a week or more?

Bigger fish to fry

Editor Marty Gottlieb's front page today reports the Jersey shore won't be "the same for years," and continues to focus on national news, demoting North Jersey power outages and mass-transit restoration to A-11.

Now, readers know The Record will never be the same local paper it was before abandoning Hackensack in 2009.

Lazy local editors

With the same lazy, unimaginative local editors in charge of coverage for a decade or more -- Deirdre Sykes, Dan Sforza and Tim Nostrand -- the hometown paper has given up attempting anything that approaches comprehensive coverage of even the biggest, most diverse towns in its circulation area. 

Since the storm hit on Oct. 29, The Record has reported the damage in broad strokes, largely ignoring Hackensack and many other communities.

That continues today with the Road Warrior reporting on a tiny minority who were able to power appliances with their hybrid cars (L-1), and the Your Money's Worth columnist discussing "how we get -- and lose -- electricity" (B-1).

None of your business

The Business section cover reports on how businesses fared, but ignores all of the Main Street merchants and restaurants (B-1).

Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung reports on only four eating places, presumably because she had to stop for dessert and the resulting sugar high obliterated the assignment from her mind (BL-1). 

Touring the county

Staff Writer Stephanie Akin, who supposedly was assigned to Hackensack before Sandy, was sent on a tour of Bergen County to report on damage in Moonachie, Ridgewood and other communities.

Meanwhile, Hackensack businesses and residents, who lost power for five days or longer, were ignored.

Christie media mania

On the Opion front today, Brigid Callahan Harrison examines the New Jersey gubernatorial contest in 2013, when Governor Christie presumably will run for a second term.

But Harrison neglects to discuss the impact of the state's media, which have embraced a governor who is slowly destroying the middle class in New Jersey.

Backed wrong horse

The Record's fawning coverage of the GOP bully has been clear from the outset, but in the Nov. 6 election, its bias for a local candidate was embarrassing.

The editors lavished a great deal of  attention on Englewood Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a Republican who challenged Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, yet Boteach lost in a landslide, despite all the money he spent.

Meanwhile, the editors immediately wrote off the campaign of Teaneck Deputy Mayor Adam Gussen -- even deriding how little money he had raised -- but the Democrat got a strong 43% of the vote in his bid to defeat Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage.  

Kelly's heart attack

The Opinion front today continues to inform readers that Columnist Mike Kelly "is away from the office on a short leave."

Speculation is that Kelly is roaming the world for a photographer who can make him look better than he does in his unflattering column photo with its shit-eating grin. 

Or that he is visiting journalism schools in search of instruction on how to write clearly and more concisely, and how to express the strong opinions readers expect from columnists.

But the truth is Kelly had a heart attack, as an anoymous reader of Eye on The Record informed me recently. 

Coronary bypasses?

The reader didn't say what type of surgery Kelly might have had or whether he had coronary bypasses.

Let's hope he takes the attack as the warning sign it is, and uses his column to inform readers about adopting a healthier lifestyle. 

Mr. and Mrs. Death

The subject of death got Page 1 play today in the unusual piece on Liz Parow and Michael Mittzenwei, spouses who own separate funeral homes in  North Arlington and New Milford. 

It was the only bright spot on an otherwise pedestrian front page.  

More sloppy editing 

Editor Liz Houlton's copy editors screwed up again on an a well-written piece about travel to Spain by Staff Writer Kathleen Lynn (Travel front).

On T-5, the photo caption calls Cordoba's Mezquita "a Muslim mosque now used as a Catholic church."

Putting aside whether the word "Muslim" is needed before "mosque," Lynn's story makes clear a cathedral built in the middle of the mosque is still used for services, not the mosque itself.

And, of course, the writer has to be questioned for reporting so little on Spain's extraordinary cuisine, which for many is a big incentive to travel there.  

See previous post on more

 Road Warrior errors