Saturday, October 11, 2014

Practicing jock-itching journalism with the best of them

Two stone horses outside P.F. Chang's China Bistro in Hackensack were painted pink on Thursday in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, above and below. For Chinese food, a better bet is Lotus Cafe, a BYO in the Home Depot Shopping Center just down the street.




By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Editor Martin Gottlieb -- he's called "Marty" in The Record newsroom -- apparently is obsessed with sports, and he led the paper today and Friday with the rivalry between two jock-itching, ass-slapping high school football teams.

The chart on Page 1 today compares Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey and Paramus Catholic, revealing a possible racial filter in the acceptance policy of the former.

White students at Don Bosco make up 91.3% of enrollment, and Asians are only 1%. Blacks and Hispanics are 4.4% and 3.3%, respectively.

Does the sports rivalry really deserve this kind of coverage, especially on the front page?

No. This kind of tripe from Gottlieb has little general reader interest.

More corrections

Two embarrassing corrections on A-2 today include an attempt to repair a factual screw-up by the great Mike Kelly.

The veteran reporter drove 41 miles from his Teaneck home to do a column on alleged male-on-male sexual assaults by members of Sayreville's high school football team (Friday's A-1).

Friday's paper

The front page on Friday was wrapped in an ad for The Modern, a controversial, 47-story residential tower that was opposed by many Fort Lee residents.

Governor Christie is rumored to be considering renting a $2,500-a-month studio in the building as a field office for his team of dirty political tricksters, who have targeted Democratic mayors in Fort Lee and other communities.

Christie hopes to get a studio overlooking local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge.

Booker v. Bell

Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson continued to try and interest readers in the limp challenge to Sen. Corey Booker, D-N.J., who is seeking a full term on Nov. 4 (Friday's A-2).

In Friday's Local section, Staff Writer Todd South finally came through with a story from Tuesday night's Hackensack City Council meeting (L-3).

Heart-attack news

The Record's model for restaurant reviews is broken, as you can see from Friday's appraisal of Allendale Steakhouse in the Better Living tab (BL-20).

If Staff Writer Elisa Ung had to lay out $84.95 for the porterhouse for two from her own salary, she might have investigated whether the beef, finished with butter, was pumped full of harmful animal antibiotics and growth hormones.

But The Record paid for this double heart attack on a plate. And the service sucked, too; yet she gave the place 2.5 stars.

That porterhouse is listed as costing $85.95 in the dizzy reporter's data box on the same page -- a dollar more than in the text.

The prime beef used is the highest USDA grade, Ung reports, but she doesn't tell you that cut also is the fattiest, most artery clogging available. 

The restaurant serves frozen lobster tails, and the only fish available is swordfish, which has a high mercury content. 

Steer clear of this place, if you know what's good for you.


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