Daily focus on partisan politics is big disservice to readers

This morning's dismal weather can't dampen the memory of Monday's bright sunshine at Skippy's Hand Car Wash in Fort Lee.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I didn't think The Record's front page today could be any more boring than an A-1 on Monday dominated by "vaping" and a drone strike in Afghanistan.

But like her predecessor, Editor Deirdre Sykes outdoes herself on finding Page 1 stories that are of limited relevance to the vast majority of North Jersey  readers.

Eyes really are rolling today at the Atlantic City package, which includes what must be the 100th reprint of a tedious Charles Stile column on Governor Christie's reputation of crafting "bipartisan deals" (A-1).

Meanwhile, Sykes buries major Christie vetoes of measures on Port Authority reforms, guns and the diversion of open-space funds (A-7).

The Woodland Park daily has stopped counting the GOP bully's vetoes, but they must be approaching 500 -- surely a record for any New Jersey governor. 

See an Eye on The Record post from early this month:

Christie's vetoes are going uncounted


Bipartisan politics

Sykes continues to cover Trenton in strictly bipartisan terms, and Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin doesn't have the balls to cut through the politics and urge passage of laws and taxes that will be good for New Jersey.

It's as if readers haven't grown weary from the national media's relentless focus on politics when reporting the stalemate in Congress and the long, boring presidential campaign.

Corrections

Two long corrections appear on A-2 today, but nothing is being said about two incorrect photo captions on L-3 of Monday's local-news section.

The staging of a photo at the Great Falls to celebrate the anniversary of St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Paterson is bad enough.

But the caption writer claimed church Executive Director Richard Williams is "looking" at the proclamation -- when clearly he is not.

A second photo showed the Greek food festival at St. George Orthodox Church in Clifton under a meaningless over line that apparently is a play on the phrase "back to the future."

"BAKLAVA TO THE FUTURE"

Even if you excuse that idiocy, the caption writer claims the Greek delicacies sold at the festival were "washed down with good, strong coffee."

What nonsense. Small cups of pre-sweetened Greek, Turkish and Arabic coffee are enjoyed at the end of the meal or with pastry.

Local news?

The Local front today recalls World War II heroism in France, but is dominated by the gee-whiz tale of a serial bank robber who has outwitted the FBI for nearly a year (L-1).

Law & Order stories fill much of the section (L-2, L-3 and L-6).