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| Construction on West 34th Street in Manhattan slowed New Jersey drivers heading to the Lincoln Tunnel on Friday afternoon, and some cars displaced pedestrians at this intersection. The Record continues to ignore the region's nightmarish traffic congestion and the need for more mass transit. |
Newsroom boss Marty Gottlieb whipped his staff into a frenzy after the premature death of actor James Gandolfini, 51, a Bergen County native who portrayed mob boss Tony Soprano on TV.
Friday's coverage on Page 1, A-6 and the Sports front is way more than any reader wants to know about a single actor, and today's A-1 piece on Gandolfini and actor Don Draper is just a waste of space.
Meanwhile, the Better Living cover story today focuses on the medical aspects of Gandolfini's heart attack in Italy, and virtually ignores the dietary causes of clogged arteries (BL-1).
That's no surprise for a section whose food editors and writers promote recipes that rely on butter, heavy cream and other artery clogging ingredients.
Death has been in the news this week, so the L-1 obituary of environmentalist Ella Filippone, 78, should be on the front page today, in place of either the silly political or television column.
In a related development, it's too bad the Food Network didn't dump "celebrity cook" and racist Paula Dean long ago for pushing fried chicken and other unhealthy Southern dishes (A-1 and A-4 today).
Today's Local section also carries the obituary of Dr. Robert Manzi, 61, of Ridgefield -- the subject of a series in The Record -- but there is no explanation of how the paper missed his death 10 weeks ago (L-5).
Another obituary lists "pneumonia" as the cause of death for Scott Byers of Clifton, the "voice" of the world-famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
But a photo of Byers on Friday's L-6 leaves readers wondering whether obesity had anything to do with his untimely demise at 48.
Mean-spirited Christie
All of this hysterical coverage of Gandolfini's death forced The Record's editors to demote approval of Governor Christie's mean-spirited $33 billion state budget.
Running under a 1-column headline on Friday's front page, the story only mentions in passing cuts in women's health services, preschool education and tax credits for the working poor.
With that fresh in mind, readers got a good laugh when they saw a quote from Christie on A-2 today, "When people are suffering, we're all Americans ...."
So, I guess we're to assume New Jersey's women, preschool children, the working poor and the middle class aren't "Americans," because the GOP bully treats them like shit.
Bipartisan lies
All of this "bipartisan" B.S. is coming from Christie, the King of Vetoes, and it's being regurgitated by the editors.
They, in turn, pull the strings of Staff Writers Herb Jackson, Melissa Hayes, John Reitmeyer, and Columnists Charles Stile and Alfred P. Doblin, editor of the editorial page.
Road Warrior errors
Friday's Road Warrior column neglects to tell readers that calling #77 to alert the state police about aggressive driving or road rage does little good, if you can't supply a license-plate number.
The problem lies in Staff Writer John Cichowski's almost total reliance on e-mails from drivers whose observation skills are questionable and whose exaggerations are evident (L-1 on Friday).
Cichowski's previous Road Warrior report -- Wednesday's piece on Route 80 bathrooms or the lack thereof -- was the 14th column in a row with major errors, according to a concerned reader's e-mail to management
See the full e-mail on the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:
Road Warrior pisses all over himself again
Are they blind?
Production Editor Liz Houlton's copy editors keep on embarrassing the paper.
Today's Page 1 photo has an over line that could have been written by a 12-year-old, and neglects to report how the accident caused massive problems for commuters:
"TRUCK STUCK ON TRACKS HIT BY TRAIN"
If that's not bad enough, the photo caption describes the truck as a "tractor-trailer," when readers can clearly see a round tanker, not a square trailer (A-1).
I have an over line to suggest:
FIRE 6-FIGURE PRODUCTION EDITOR
Just an observation...I spent some time in dispatch work. I was under the impression that a trailer was classified as anything lacking a front axle (pulled by a tractor). A trailer could be a freight box, tanker, flatbed, etc. Not 100 percent sure of this, but since I never heard of a "tractor-tanker" perhaps there is truth to it.
ReplyDeleteThe word "tanker" is commonly used in trucking and train circles.
ReplyDeleteI grew up with Scott Byers. No expansive explanation needed about his cause of death. It wasn't suspicious. His family and friends who are mourning a wonderful person's passing desire some respect, not a lecture on cardiology.
ReplyDeleteOK, thanks. The "lecture" isn't aimed at the family.
ReplyDeleteEvery obit in Victor's paper needs to include the victim's weight.
ReplyDeleteAnd the number of bypasses.
ReplyDeleteDon Draper isn't the name of the actor, but the name of the character that Jon Hamm portrays on Mad Men. And as far as I know, his weight is just fine.
ReplyDeleteHate that show and any other TV drama that has its head buried in the past, ignoring all of the abuses of today. Hamm, indeed.
ReplyDelete