Editors testing readers' patience for unlimited holiday cheer

"Refugees" is from cartoonist John Cole. The Record and many other news outlets continue to ignore the carnage of the Syrian civil war, which began in March 2011; the role of Russia in keeping the regime in power and whether Russian President Vladimir Putin helped Donald J. Trump win the U.S. presidential election.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

We have much to celebrate during Christmas and Hanukkah, but the holidays aren't easing our nationwide anxiety with a Trump presidency just 26 days away.

Meanwhile, the Sunday edition of The Record is laying on the holiday cheer with upbeat columns and stories on nearly every section front, even though many of them are flawed.

For example, on Page 1, the enormous amount of space devoted to Nora Renzulli, a Wayne woman who volunteers to serve meals at Eva's Village in Paterson, ignores thousands of others who are just as dedicated (1A).

On the Local front, Road Warrior John Cichowski so-called Wish List for Santa is so heavily focused on drivers that he becomes a Road Scrooge for the tens of thousands who commute by train or bus (1L).

His lone reference to the midtown Manhattan Port Authority Bus Terminal as "a sardine-can relic" is inaccurate.

Nor does he know enough to call for more exclusive bus lanes to the Lincoln Tunnel as a way of providing immediate relief until a new terminal is built.

2016 election

An Associated Press story reports that polling after the November election found that "nearly two-thirds of voters described the [strong] economy as 'not so good' or 'poor' (16A).

But the AP ignores whether racism and misogyny were among the real reasons they voted for Trump.

On the Opinion front, a long piece by Merrill Brown, director of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University, argues a Trump administration will test news organizations as never before (1O).

However, Brown doesn't discuss how the news media's intense focus on state and national politics -- as opposed to policies, issues and what's good for the state or country -- is the biggest possible disservice to voters.