A reporter of few words

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Staff Writer Kibret Markos provides a surprising amount of detail about the rundown interior of the Bergen County Courthouse on Page 1 of  The Record today -- considering how much time he spends outside smoking. Markos is a man of few words who, coincidentally, writes relatively few stories from one of the state's busiest courthouses.

You might see four stories about trials, indictments and other legal matters from him one day, then nothing for a week or more. And Markos, who is himself a lawyer, seems to have a blind spot about legal fees, never discussing them when reporting huge judgments or settlements in civil lawsuits.

Meanwhile, the news copy desk, under the supervision of Production Editor Liz Houlton, continues to run amuck. Today, two of the dullest headlines imaginable appear on front-page stories and a caption contains erroneous information.

School cuts scrutinized

When is Houlton and the copy desk going to be "scrutinized" for turning out such tripe, this on renewed school funding arguments before the state Supreme Court. 

Halls of justice need fixing up

There's no flair in this headline on Markos' story about the proposed renovation of the historic courthouse in Hackensack. Some readers might argue with the phrase "halls of justice," arguing that justice is not always served there.

And the A-1 caption says, "The 100-year-old" building "suffers from many structural problems," but no such problems are discussed in the story. A roof leak or an out-of-control heating system aren't structural problems.


Is it fair to call the courthouse 100 years old in the sub headline and caption, if construction began in 1910?

Markos also reports one of the elevators recently was nicknamed "The Widow-maker," even though no one was killed in its so-called free falls. All of this is just more of the sloppy copy editing the Woodland Park daily has become known for.

Finally, the takeout on the courthouse is an example of what Editor Francis Scandale loves to plaster all over Page 1: Proposals, plans, studies and panel recommendations that may come to fruition in 2012, 2013, 2014 -- or never. What about the here and now, Francis?

Color blind

In a sidebar to the Supreme Court story on A-1, political Columnist Charles Stile continues to ignore the diversity issue at the state Supreme Court or even tell readers John Wallace was the only black associate justice before Governor Christie dumped him last May.

Head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes is selling the front of Local to the highest bidder for a second day. 

A six-column automobile dealer's ad appears under the "2011 People to Watch" story, but today, placement of the boxed story at the top of the page puts the ad over a major report on school test scores. On Wednesday, the ad was at the bottom of the page.

Check out the clunky head on the school test results:

New test scores, old gap concerns 

Old gap concerns? The drop head would have made a better main head:

Schools pledge to help those left behind 

On Page L-3, a 39-year-old North Bergen woman has been reported missing, but no similar stories have appeared on the apparent disappearance of Hackensack reporter Monsy Alvarado, Staff Writer Jean Rimbach and other staffers whose bylines haven't been seen for weeks.

Why downplay North Jersey news?

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This morning, readers picked up The Record of Woodland Park, hoping for detailed coverage of last night's Hackensack City Council meeting on the suspended police chief, and the latest on Governor Christie's drastic state aid cuts and his unprecedented attack on the judiciary.


All those stories are here, but how they were played tells you volumes about the desperation of the lazy, incompetent editors to sell papers.


The noisy, packed meeting in Hackensack is promoted at the bottom of Page 1 -- which several days ago was almost completely devoted to the arrest of Police Chief Ken Zisa -- but the story gets pushed back to the Local front. Also squeezed to the margins of the front page are a proposed 74% cut in state library funding and the constitutional crisis over Christie's rejection of state Supreme Court Justice John Wallace, who is African-American.


So what's the big news today? The inept, would-be Times Square bomber is talking to investigators (and paint is drying on houses all over North Jersey). Is this really such a big deal? Look at that terrific photo. Six investigators, some of them on their cell phones, on a porch in Connecticut. Wow. A real prize winner, if I ever saw one. 

I guess this is an example of the "responsible journalism" practiced at North Jersey Media Group.

Are the editors trying to minimize Christie's slash-and-burn campaign? Why not finally give voice to Hackensack residents on Page 1 after a virtual blackout on any city news outside the Police Department for many, many months?

Look at the high court decisions the governor criticizes: affordable housing and special aid for school districts to ensure a thorough-and-efficient education. Both benefited minorities, and the justice Christie rejected is the only black on the court. See a pattern there? 


Except for the Hackensack Council meeting story on the front of Local, there is no news from Hackensack, Englewood or Teaneck.


As for coverage of the council meeting itself, there was way too much background information and not enough on what happened at the meeting. An editorial on A-12 -- citing conflicts in Bergen County -- calls for the state Attorney General's Office to take over the Zisa investigation.