Lazy editors praise lowly cold cuts, hide their real harm

An NJ Transit train passing Euclid Avenue in Hackensack on Tuesday. Today, The Record's front page carries more official jawboning on building new Hudson River rail tunnels to expand service to the city, but there is no telling how many months or years commuters will have to wait for an actual agreement on its financing by the two states and the federal government.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

You'll find the biggest laugh line in today's paper on the front page of The Record's Better Living section, where some desperate reporter compares lowly cold cuts at a supermarket deli counter to "Starbucks, and its myriad coffees and lattes."

Not even close.

Nearly all of the cold cuts sold at deli counters come from animals raised on harmful antibiotics, growth hormones and animal by-products, though you won't find even a mention of that in Staff Writer John Petrick's long story (BL-1).

If you're not buying Applegate Farms cold cuts -- which are antibiotic- as well as preservative-free -- you're a lazy consumer who has been feeding your family crap (BL-8).

Petrick apparently was under orders not to alienate all of the supermarkets who rake in big profits from selling cheap lunch meat, because revenue from their advertising fliers props up North Jersey Media Group.

Consumer Reports

In recent years, Consumer Reports has linked the widespread use of human antibiotics to raise chickens and other animals on factory farms to a growing antibiotic resistance among humans.

In fact, the magazine launched a campaign to get Trader Joe's to pledge that the national chain wouldn't sell any meat or poultry raised on antibiotics.

Of course, you haven't seen that reported in The Record, where the chief restaurant critic, Elisa Ung, once referred to Consumer Reports "as the magazine many of us use to buy a washing machine."

More Page 1 B.S.

Today, Editor Martin Gottlieb publishes another long, tedious piece from opinion Columnist Mike Kelly that is completely devoid of any opinions (A-1).

As with so many Kelly columns, readers will find this one on U.S. Sen Robert Menendez indistinguishable from a news story -- except for the outdated, unflattering thumbnail photo of the veteran reporter flashing a shit-eating grin.

The "dual life" of Menendez as "statesman" and "defendant" is just more media bullshit.

The nuclear deal with Iran and the corruption charges against the senior U.S. senator from New Jersey have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

And the federal jury that may be asked to decide his guilt or innocence will do so based on the evidence and the law, not Menendez's record in the Senate.

In fact, President Obama has vowed to veto any bill that tries to kill the Iran deal, so why waste so much valuable space on the front page reporting congressional objections? 

GOP bully

Governor Christie has lost more ground as a Republican presidential candidate -- he's now in 11th place -- so why is the story on the front page today in place of more legitimate state news (A-1)? 

Another Page 1 story carries this headline:

"First step
on path
to a new 
rail tunnel" 

Of course, the "first step" comes nearly five years after Christie killed the last project to build new rail tunnels under the Hudson River and expand service to and from the city.

But it is only in the last 18 months or so that the editors, their so-called commuting columnist and other transportation reporters have paid any real attention to North Jersey's long-standing mass transit crisis.

Local news?

A meeting of the Hackensack City Council was scheduled for Tuesday night, but I don't see anything in Local today (L-1 to L-6).

On L-3 today, a story reports a non-fatal fire Monday night on Polify Road in Hackensack displaced six people and that five first-responders were treated.

Today's story describes "a garden apartment complex;" on Tuesday, a brief about the same fire said they were "town houses."

On L-2, businesses are offering discounts during Senior Citizen Appreciation Week in Passaic County.

There is no explanation of why the Allwood Diner, IHOP, Triangle Diner, McDonald's and Amor Cucina are offering free dessert or ice cream to seniors, many of whom are diabetic or simply watching their weight and cholesterol.

Christie's 'reform' of entitlements is bad news for you, me

Hackensack police are citing an exemption in the Open Public Records Act in denying Eye on The Record a video statement from Detective Sgt. John C. Straniero of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office on March 10, the day after his unmarked car struck and fatally injured Hue D. Dang, 64, of Hackensack. He was not charged. The exemption cites an active investigation of the fatality by the Union County Prosecutor's Office.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Even a story reporting Governor Christie plans "to reform Social Security, Medicare and other benefits" sends shivers down the spines of anyone approaching retirement age.

Christie and other conservative Republicans love to throw around the word "reform" to mask their mean-spirited raid of public benefit programs and entitlements, as shown by today's Page 1 story in The Record (A-1).

And gullible reporters like Herb Jackson, the paper's so-called Washington correspondent, have swallowed whole all the broken promises that word represents.

Rare story

Today's front page also carries a rare story on seniors suffering from Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia -- a follow-up to a murder-suicide in which a 100-year-old Elmwood Park man killed his 88-year-old wife before committing suicide (A-1).

"The risk of dementia increases dramatically with age -- more than 5 million Americans age 65 and older have Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia among older people," Staff Writer Mary Jo Layton says.

Of course, the Woodland Park daily has long ignored the problem, and I can't recall a single story on day care for seniors with dementia, even though some of the programs started more than a decade ago.

A perfect candidate for such a day care program is Staff Writer John Cichowski, also known as the Road Warrior, whose chronic errors can only be explained by some form of dementia coupled with a total breakdown in traditional fact checking.

Bottom feeding

A story on the first Business page reports a Walmart with a 24-hour supermarket is opening in two weeks in a new shopping center in Teterboro (L-8).

Consumer Report's May 2015 cover article, "The Best Supermarkets in America," ranks Walmart next to last on its list of 68 chains.

The magazine rated markets nationwide based on 62,197 responses to a survey on the quality of produce, meats and poultry, and bakery goods, as well as store-prepared food, staff courtesy and store cleanliness.

"And what of Walmart, consistently one of our lowest-ranking grocers dating back to 2005? This year, the nation's largest grocer ... earned low marks in every category other than price," according to Consumer Reports.

But you can be sure The Record will publish one glowing story after another about Walmart in return for tens of thousands of dollars in sorely needed advertising revenue.

As state economy implodes, Christie tries to hide the truth

A photo caption in The Record's Better Living section on Thursday incorrectly locates the statue of General Enoch Poor "at the Bergen County Courthouse" (BL-8), contradicting the caption on the section cover, which gives the correct location, Court and Moore streets in Hackensack, below, across the street from the courthouse.

For some reason, The Name-Dropper column on the Revolutionary War general doesn't mention General Poor's Tavern on Main Street, a watering hole that was the scene of many newsroom going away parties before The Record left Hackensack in 2009. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Today's front-page news that Governor Christie is hiding lagging tax-revenue data follows by one day The Record's lead story on New Jersey's weak job market, lower incomes and higher poverty rates:

N.J. recovery lagging

Yet an editorial today doesn't even mention Christie's name, but urges "New Jersey lawmakers to put politics aside" (A-12).

Nor does the editorial question any of his policies, such as giving hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to wealthy business owners and getting little job creation in  return.

If the Christie administration is hiding "precise figures for how much the state expected to see in taxes compared with what was actually collected" (A-1), then The Record's editorial also seems to be hiding the truth.

We know from a Page 1 story in The Record on Wednesday the GOP bully's conservative pledge not to raise taxes on his rich supporters has made him desperate to balance the state budget:

"Last year, Christie used $147.5 million of the $165 million from two previous Passaic River [pollution] settlements to balance the budget," Staff Writer Scott Fallon reported.

"And since becoming governor in 2010, Christie has taken $1 billion from clean energy money for the general fund."

Here's come the judge

A state Superior Court judge was making $165,000 a year in 2012, but today's story on judges coming in as early as 6 a.m., staying as late as 9 p.m. and working weekends doesn't say whether they are being paid overtime (A-1).

Assignment Judge Peter E. Doyne has blamed the problem on a quarter of the Bergen County judgeships going unfilled.

But what about litigious lawyers clogging the court docket with frivolous cases just to boost their already considerable annual incomes?

Editor dons kilt

Today's story on Scottish independence is a total waste of front-page space in a local North Jersey daily (A-1).

But Editor Marty Gottlieb actually sent a reporter to interview  "expats" in Kearny, way outside the circulation area, and ran another Page 1 story on Thursday.

Gottlieb, who came to The Record from a lofty position as international editor of The New York Times, has never understood the role of a local newspaper, especially in view of saturation coverage of international news by the electronic media.

Stomach turning

The Record's editors have turned their back on the consumer when it comes to covering restaurants and chefs.

Keeping restaurant ad revenue flowing into the coffers of North Jersey Media Group seems to have blinded them to restaurant patrons' many gripes, which I never see in the paper.

Look at today's rave review of Due in Ridgewood, described as "a refined Italian BYO," even though Chef Adam Weiss serves an inauthentic shrimp and grits, and charges $30 for the dish (BL-18).

Staff Writer Elisa Ung devotes two full paragraphs to Due's artery clogging desserts, which many readers avoid like the plague.

And the restaurant's supposed turnaround is actually heralded on Page 1 -- a first. Can the place really be that good?

Clueless food editor

More breathless coverage was published on Wednesday from none other than Food Editor Esther Davidowitz.

On the Better Living cover, Davidowitz's Behind the Kitchen Door praised Andiamo in Haworth and owner Don Dickstein.

On the next page, Davidowitz interviewed John Halligan of Park Steakhouse and Park West Tavern for Coffee with The Chef.

Davidowitz allows Halligan to say "the dish I'm most proud of" are "our steaks," but doesn't dare question him on whether they are raised naturally.

Later, he claims "we don't make a dime on the steaks we serve," and "I spend $100 a day on bread that we give away."

But there is nothing in the interview about the low wages he pays servers, putting the burden on customers to tip well or else, or the outrageous markup he takes on a glass of wine.

On the same page Wednesday, the FYI column appears to reprint a half-dozen restaurant press releases verbatim.

Restaurant gripes

See the August 2014 issue of Consumer Reports on the top gripes of people when they are dining out, including dirty tables, utensils or restrooms, and gratuities of 18% or higher automatically added to the bill.

The Consumer Reports National Research Center surveyed 1,003 adults nationwide in March 2014.

Ung, the paper's chief restaurant reviewer, recently dismissed Consumer Reports as the magazine "many of us use to buy a washing machine."

Hackensack news

On Wednesday's Local front, The Record reported the hiring of David R. Troast, 54, of Hawthorne as Hackensack's new city manager at a salary of $152,700.

The story doesn't say how much Troast's predecessors made, nor does it report that unlike them, Troast won't be commuting in a city owned car.

Former City Manager Stephen Lo Iacono was paid about $167,000.

Todd South, The Record's new Hackensack reporter, published background from previous stories, including errors and omissions.

He describes Troast from 2010 to 2013 as "city manager of Sparta," which is a township (L-1 on Wednesday).

Later, he reports, Troast was a "city planner" for the township of Sparta from 1996 to 2010, instead of the correct "township planner."

South also cites complaints from "many residents," without identifying some of the most vocal critics as being affiliated with the city Board of Education, including two members who ran unsuccessfully against the current City Council in 2013.

Home-delivery mix-up: Features and opinion, no news

A small but vocal group of residents nagged Hackensack officials to start twice-a-week garbage collection this year. But the city caved in before encouraging more recycling and starting a composting program to reduce the waste stream.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's plastic bag in my driveway this morning contained two Better Living sections, two Opinion sections, two TV books and some advertising.

When I called, I was told the news sections would be delivered "after 10 a.m.," but at 10:45, I decided to sit down at the computer, because I have things to do and places to go today.

Crappy burger

It's clear from Elisa Ung's Sunday column, The Corner Table, this ignorant woman hasn't read Consumer Reports in many years, and has no idea the magazine has been exploring such important food issues as harmful animal antibiotics and salmonella in poultry.

In fact, Consumers Union, the magazine's policy and advocacy arm, called on Trader Joe's "to stop selling meat and poultry raised on a steady diet of antibiotics."

Ung refers to Consumer Reports as "the magazine many of us use to buy a washing machine" (BL-1).

This is what you get with a restaurant reviewer who spends most of her time writing about celebrity chefs and the problems facing wealthy restaurant owners while ignoring customer issues.

Her column today discusses a new entry in the crappy hamburger sweepstakes in North Jersey, but doesn't compare the beef used and whether any of the patties are made from antibiotic- and hormone-free beef.  

Atlantic Shitty

On the Opinion front, burned-out Columnist Mike Kelly -- he of the inimitable shit-eating grin -- delivers a 40-year recap of Atlantic City (O-1).

The resort and its economic problems are of so little interest to the vast majority of North Jersey residents, you have to wonder why he bothered. 

The most incisive commentary on Atlantic City is not Kelly's.

Margulies delivers another hard-hitting cartoon on O-2 today.

Free travel

Travel Editor Jill Schensul reports on another free press trip today, this time to East Berlin (T-1).

I would never pay $118.60 to drive one of the world's unsafest cars, but she makes it sound so wonderful.

The Travel section was delivered with Saturday's paper.

Tragic Titanic story never gets old

A seaman from Hawthorne saved others and then went down with the Titanic.

A moving homage to a North Jersey seaman who went down with the Titanic after saving passengers 100 years ago today is the only story you really must read on the front page of The Record.


Staff Writer Jay Levin employed old-fashioned leg work to find postcards and letters seaman William Cahoone Johnson Jr. wrote to his sister in Hawthorne, including one sent only 10 days before the ship hit an iceberg.


'Met death like a hero' is the headline over the photo-and-text package that dominates Page 1 today. A sidebar on Titanic's chief baker, who survived and lived in Paterson, appears on A-8.


Page A-8 is also where you'll find a paragraph that explains why the Titanic story is so much more compelling than today's other A-1 stories on politics and corruption -- themes editors overplay day after day.


People stories


" ... The sinking of an 'unsinkable' passenger ship [and] the terrorist destruction of twin skyscrapers are really a collection of intensely personal tragedies," Levin wrote.


They're stories about people who put others above themselves, who exemplify the best of the human spirit, not the worst.


Corruption isn't news


You'll find the worst of the human spirit in Staff Writer Jeff Pillets A-1 account of a federal audit of the Hudson River rail tunnels, which Governor Christie killed in October 2010.


I have a great deal of respect for Pillets, but he leaves unanswered several major questions, including:

1. Why should commuters be penalized with loss of the tunnels -- forcing them to stand in the aisles of crowded trains and buses for the next decade -- because of cost overruns, including tens of millions paid to greedy landowners, lawyers and real estate consultants?
2. What other public projects of the same scale were built without delays and cost overruns?

Road-rage victim


It's hard to believe what one 60-year-old Leonia woman went through at the hands of a maniac with a license (L-1).


The Road Warrior column describes the ultimately unsuccessful prosecution of an enraged pickup-truck driver, who was charged with reckless driving.


But Staff Writer John Cichowski doesn't put the blame where it belongs: an abysmal lack of enforcement.


Maniacs rule roads 


Where are the cops? Why are the maniacs getting away with speeding 20 mph to 30 mph over the speed limit, tailgating at high speeds and cutting off other drivers?


Cichowski should spend more time on the highway and less time on his padded rear-end in front of the computer. 


And when he gets only 1 out of 50 columns right, does The Record really need him at all?


News for yokels


Also on L-1 today, The Record continues its rabidly anti-Castro news coverage, which is so out of sync with the moderating views of an increasing number of Cuban-Americans.


Don't look for any Hackensack news today from head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes, who also spends an excessive amount of time on her well-padded derriere.


Sin of omission


In Business, consumer Columnist Kevin DeMarrais writes about a Consumer Reports poll on supermarkets.


He notes good finishes for Trader Joe's, Costco Wholesale and Whole Foods Market, all of which sell a lot of organic and naturally raised or grown items (B-1).


But DeMarrais doesn't explain why The Record's own monthly Marketbasket Survey -- which he compiles -- has never listed any organic food.


Senior moments


The Better Living editors rely on a cover story filled with mindless T&A to attract readers (F-1).


In Travel, Editor Jill Schensul suffers her own senior moments with her cover story on lists and a sidebar on Austin (T-1).


She forgets to mention in the list story that one reason people make lists is so they won't forget to do or buy something.


And in her Austin story, Schensul forgets to mention the Texas city is joining the international Formula 1 circuit in November with a race on the new Circuit of the Americas.