'I'm not going to be governor in 2014'

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How did everyone miss this?

On Tuesday, in the last paragraph of a Page A-6 story on Governor Christie, Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson quotes him as saying he won't be governor in 2014 -- the year he would begin a second term. 

So does that mean he won't be running for governor again in November 2013 or that he'll seek to unseat President Obama as the conservative juggernaut of the Republican Party? There's no clue in Tuesday's paper or today's paper -- or even any comment from The Record on his statement.

In Washington for a meeting of the National Governors Association, Christie:

1. Told Katie Couric to shove her Times/CBS News poll results, showing that a majority opposes his efforts to cut the benefits of public employees.
2. Accused Obama of "playing politics" when he told the governors to play nice with public workers.
3. And commented on the president's so-called flexibility on health care reform.

"I'm not going to even be governor in 2014, so the fact that he's offering flexibility in 2014 is really of no moment to most governors who need to balance their budgets this year," Christie told Jackson.

The Woodland Park daily didn't even report the Times/CBS News poll results or Christie's comments about it and Couric, anchor of the CBS Evening News.

Fat of the land

The big news on Page 1 today is a report on how immigrants are healthier than native New Jerseyans when they arrive, but the longer they stay, their diets get worse, they smoke and drink more and they are less physically active.

Is that a commentary on North Jersey's dog-eat-dog mentality or on how the features staff bombards readers with stories on cookies, cakes, artery-clogging desserts and crappy hamburgers? 

But I liked the headline: "Arrival of the fittest." 

Too bad the news copy desk and its supervisors, Liz Houlton and Vinny Byrne, only manage a great headline every couple of months or so.

Dial-a-typo

The features copy desk again missed an incorrect phone number for a fund-raiser listed in Friday's A la Carte column in Better Living, according to a correction on A-2 today. 

Maybe the copy editors have lost their phone privileges in a cost-cutting move and can't call numbers in stories they are editing to check their accuracy. 

'The steamroller'

Another column praising Christie's style appears on A-11 today. 

James Ahearn, a former managing editor, concludes the governor has the Democratic-controlled Legislature boxed in on drastic cuts to public employee benefits in return for doubling property tax rebates.

"He will be one-up on them, one way or another," Ahearn says.

Editors hide bad news for Christie

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Governor Christie doubts Katie Couric knows anything about public opinion.

Two major stories about Governor Christie appear in The Record today (A-1 and A-7), but the editors were careful to avoid any mention of major opposition to the war against public workers being waged in New Jersey, Wisconsin and other states.

The New York Times/CBS News poll found a majority opposes weakening bargaining rights for public workers. A summary on the Times' Web site reported:

"As labor battles erupt in state capitals around the nation, a majority of Americans say they oppose efforts to weaken the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions and are also against cutting the pay and benefits of public workers to reduce state budget deficits."

The poll was reported by the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric on Monday night, and Christie was asked about the poll results. He accused the media of wording the poll questions to get the results they wanted to keep what he called an entertaining story alive.

He also said he has a better idea of public opinion than Couric, and if that's not the case, the CBS News anchor should run for governor of New Jersey. Click on the following link to see a video of his comments:

Governor Christie dismisses poll results 

Today's front page

A big photo of a murder suspect on Page 1 today carries this heading: "FIRST GLANCE AT SLAYING SUSPECT," a puzzling choice given that his photo also appeared on the front page Sunday and Monday.

Cookie monsters

There is no truth to the rumor that Christie, former Food Editor Bill Pitcher and Project Editor Tim Nostrand are vying for the job of spokesman for Fatboy Cookies (Better Living, F-1).

See earlier posts on the Borgs' jet

Hey, Frank, who the F cares?

Image by Fibonacci Blue via Flickr

The biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history isn't enough of a front-page story for Editor Frank Scandale, who is more jock than journalist. Today, The Record of Woodland Park glorifies the Russian fat-cat owner of the hapless Nets basketball team with a huge A-1 photo and story by one of its biggest hacks, Staff Writer John Brennan.


Brennan likely helped talk this story onto Page 1, as he did obsessively with all the nonsense he covered when I was still at The Record, and found a sympathetic audience in Scandale, Tim Nostrand and other desperate editors. Meanwhile, readers looking for essential information about their towns were ignored, as they are now.


Greedy BP's blunders in the Gulf are shoved down below the fold on A-1. The oil platform disaster is on the cover of Time magazine and leads the CBS Evening News every day, but Scandale's Record bounces the story onto and off of the front page without rhyme or reason. Of course, we know how flawed Scandale's  news judgment is after he relegated Tom Franklin's incredible 9/11 photo to a back page.


Yet, after taking over from Mac Daddy, Publisher Stephen A. Borg not only kept Scandale on, but promoted him to vice president. Did anyone in the news meetings Borg attended see him and Frank slap each other on the ass after placing yet another sports or business of sports story on A-1?


Meanwhile, coverage of the World Cup in Sports has been lackluster.


Local leads with a Star-Ledger story on a $2.5 million settlement for a hotel clerk, but the reporter leaves readers in the dark on how much of that will be going to the lawyer (probably a third, plus expenses). Don't look for substantial Hackensack, Teaneck or Englewood news in the section.

Hackensack reporter Monsy Alvarado's sole contribution today is a too-long story on a ruling to withhold pay from suspended Police Chief Ken Zisa. She has yet to report details of the proposed city budget and tax hike, which are going before the City Council tonight for the second time. You can thank head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes, who has been pulling Monsy's strings for years.

There is also a short story on the closing of the Court Street Bridge for two years to refurbish the span, too weak for trucks over 3 tons. The project will make the Borgs' nearly 20 acres on the Hackensack River a lot more valuable, especially to a big box retailer that wants as much access as possible.

Looking at the 2003 photo with the obituary of singer Jimmy Dean on L-1 today makes me think he ate too much of the mystery meat that went into his breakfast sausage. I also realize how little impact Dean (Tenafly), Eddie Murphy (Englewood) and other celebrities who lived in North Jersey had on neighbors or their towns.


There is no local food news in Better Living today. A story from the Contra Costa Times on "shopping healthfully" completely omits any mention of avoiding food with antibiotics, growth hormones, animal byproducts, pesticides and other harmful additives.