Dumbing down of the paper accelerates

The city of Hackensack has been extremely slow in embracing solar power, which would save money and help the environment. Mount Olive Baptist Church on Central Avenue in Hackensack installed hundreds of panels six years ago, above and below.

Monday's Page 1 story on  Municipal Judge Vince A. Sicari misnamed the ethics panel that has asked him to give up moonlighting as a standup comedian, according to an A-2 correction today.

The story called it the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct (A-4), which isn't even close and doesn't make sense, because it is his conduct outside the courtroom that is being questioned.

The correct name is the Advisory Committee on Extrajudicial Activities.

This is the latest in a series of embarrassing errors on the front page or in Page 1 stories under the inept supervision of Production Editor Liz Houlton.

Houlton was promoted to the six-figure job, despite all the years she ran the features copy desk and allowed numerous errors to get past her cursor, only to appear in Food and other sections.

No laughing matter

With the departure of Jimmy Margulies, fans of his often brilliant editorial page cartoons will no longer see a New Jersey focus, as demonstrated today by the Las Vegas Sun's lame effort (A-8).

I don't know what's worse: Sunday's headline on A-4, "Police shoot man with knife," or the heading on today's letter to the editor pointing it out: "Convertible cutting device?"

2 more staffers leave

The lifer who wrote those headings for years, Charles Saydah, editor of letters to the editor, is giving up his cushy job, according to another staffer's Facebook page.

A third staffer who is leaving, Justo Bautista, is one of the hardest working reporters in the Woodland Park newsroom.

Bautista, who is in his 60s, is a police reporter who also wrote numerous stories about war veterans in North Jersey.

His hustle and legwork will be hard to replace, and his departure further reduces newsroom diversity.

Local snooze

In place of news from Hackensack and other towns, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her deputy, Dan Sforza, throw readers a few bones:

-- A story and photo on the crash of a FedEx van leads Local (L-1).

-- A photo and caption on the crash of a delivery truck (L-3), with the imaginative overline, "CRASH IN FORT LEE."

-- A filler on a bank robbery (L-2) has a photo showing investigators standing around and bullshitting. 
  

More editing lapses undermine reader trust

A sign for Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, somehow ended up in a Lukoil station in Englewood, where a Republican, Shmuley Boteach, put up a lame challenge, despite lavish coverage of the rabbi's campaign by The Record's local-news assignment desk.

The breaking-news story continues to trip up The Record's local-news assignment and copy desks, which are supposed to serve as damage control for errors made in the rush to publication.

Today and Monday, Page 1 coverage of a black suspect killed by white police officers strikes a familiar chord with readers:

A confused recounting of what happened,  Prosecutor John L. Molinelli keeping his usual tight control over information, including his refusal to release the names of the officers involved; and The Record filing Open Public Records Act requests for reports and officers' accounts.

Location of shooting

Monday's front-page account of the Sunday shooting reported the suspect, Rickey L. McFadden, 47, of Leonia allegedly was armed with a knife "when four officers confronted him two blocks" from the CVS pharmacy on Broad Avenue [italics added].

Five paragraphs later, still on A-1, the story says, "The gunfire erupted outside the CVS at 410 Broad Ave. in the late afternoon [italics added] ...." 

There are other conflicts, with the lead saying the suspect "tried to rob" the CVS, and later that he "robbed the store of cash and other items."

Flawed photo caption

On the continuation page of today's Page 1 follow-up, a photo caption says "the windshield" of a car parked on Hillside Avenue in Leonia shows evidence of the shooting, but it's the car's back window that is shown, not the windshield, and the text says as much (A-6).

The brain-dead copy editor who wrote the caption should have noticed there are no windshield wipers in the photo.

Maybe he or she didn't notice, because of exhaustion from combing through every local and wire-service story to lower case "superstorm Sandy." 

Sykes and Sforza 

Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza or their deputies are supposed to catch these errors, which damage the paper's credibility.

If they don't fix the problems, the copy desk under Editor Liz Houlton should be fixing the errors, not letting them get into the paper.

Six-figure salaries

Sykes and Houlton are pulling down six-figure salaries, yet day after day, inaccurate, confusing and conflicting information appears the paper, and few correction are ever published. 

Staff Writer Justo Bautista, a veteran police reporter, should be commended for finding witnesses to the shooting, and quoting them in the initial story on Monday. 

But so far, the stories haven't addressed why three police officers had to open fire and kill a man who only had a knife in his hand.

55th and worse governor

The lead A-1 story today is Governor Christie's announcement that he is seeking a second term -- to finish the work of destroying the middle class and protecting his wealthy supporters from any tax increases.

Is it really Page 1 news that utility companies did a poor job of communicating with customers during Superstorm Sandy outages (A-1)?

The story by three State House reporters doesn't explain why The Record and other media attended the utilities' regular briefings, where company executives "stressed how tough their jobs were," and then quoted them repeatedly. 

Short circuits

The Record's editors should have asked Public Service Electric and Gas Co. why it didn't have enough repair crews to handle the storm or compare the number of crews to staffing levels 10 years ago.

Hackensack news

On the front of Local, the byline of the new Hackensack reporter, Hannan Adely, appears for the first time over a story about the city (L-1).

Meanwhile, residents are still waiting for the results of the newspaper's investigation of city government in the wake of the conviction and sentencing of former Police Chief Ken Zisa.

According to a usually reliable source, reporters involved include Stephanie Akin, the former Hackensack reporter; and Jeff Pillets, and The Record has filed at least one lawsuit seeking city records.

On L-2, the assignment and copy desk miss another error, calling a Hispanic suspect by his mother's family name.

Franklin Reyes Ponce should be referred to on second reference as "Reyes" or "Reyes Ponce," not "Ponce."

See previous post

on more Road Warrior flaws

Jerry DeMarco breaks a long silence

An undated photo of Jerry DeMarco, who in 2015 became managing editor of Hackensack Daily Voice.com

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Jerry DeMarco, former breaking-news editor of northjersey.com and onetime Law and Order assignment editor at The Record, says he's having a ball beating the Woodland Park daily and its Web site to the news.

DeMarco is editor of Cliffview Pilot.com.

Here he talks about The Record, often addressing staffers he once worked with:

"This one's taken a dog's age. But, as you might have noticed, I've been busy.

"Sitting here on the sweet spot of my porch, scanning my peaceful, tree-lined neighborhood in one of the sweet spots of the PValley, the sweet sounds of kids playing in the nearby park, the sweet hum of distant traffic, the sweet breeze blowing my ever-thinning grays, I cannot possibly produce a singular "best."

"I like the freedom, certainly. The cabbage, the perks, of course. The college gigs -- incl. an adjunct role again this fall -- despite having only a BA and in a bad economy. TWO books in the works.

"I LOVE my sources, literally in the hundreds now, from all walks of life -- Montvale to Lyndhurst, FLawn to UC & all points between. I mean, while your guys are cordoned off down the block -- or sitting w/their heads in their monitors -- I'm on the phone w/the primary or sitting next to someone who is. They even send me photos from the scenes.
And it's 24/7.

"See, after [Record police reporter Justo] Bautista is already home -- and the real shit hits the fan -- I'm ready to rock. I get the story DIRECTLY from the sources, then sack out just as your a.m. folks are punching in. Only trouble is: When they call the local PIO to find out what happened, the shift that handled it is sleeping as soundly as I. When I finally get outta bed, I look to see how the tail-chasing's goin'. Once in a great while, I miss a morning story. Then again, EVERYONE ends up getting it, so what's the point? High time/low value if you didn't read it first on CVP.

"I definitely enjoy the flexibility; Have laptop will travel (and my DROID? Love it). Was in NOrleans for a week this spring and fewer than a half-dozen people knew. Did the same 2x last year. Traffic was great, got scoops, etc. Like I never left.

"A benefit I suspect some will misinterpret: 

"I LIKE being recognized. I like people sending drinks my way when I'm out w/friends. I look up, they point and shout, "You read it here first!" I like pulling into a DWI checkpoint and before I even open my mouth, having a uni say: "Hey, Jerry! Got a minute? I got a good story for you." I like handing people my card ("You're THAT guy?"). I like running into Klap [sports columnist Bob Klapisch, whose middle name is "Salvador," according to Wikipedia], [former Business staffer] Adam Geller, and so many other pros whom I respect and admire, hearing them say they love the site and to keep at it.

"I like when people beep and wave, when the deli guy slices the Genoa thin and the mozzarella thick, w/fresh basil and garlic, some sweet pepper, no oil, w/out my even asking. I like when people call and say, "I want to be on your site. Send me a rate card." Or when I'm out and a kid fresh from the academy introduces himself while trying to call me "Mr. DeMarco." 

"It warms me no end to have an extremely well-known Law Enforcement Officer approach me at a BBQ last month and say: "I haven't met one cop who's had a bad word to say about you." And by journos, she was incl. your people, as well as a former troop member now aboard a sinking ship of his own.

"Yeah, I figured my nat'l awards, my putting people behind bars, changing public policy, getting crooked officials out of office, teaching young reporters who went on to great jobs entitled me to tell people to fuck off. Truth is, I liked reminding the Scandales of the world of that guy who dated the girls in high school who wouldn't even look at him, who was out partying while he was home studying & STILL aced the exam, who gave him the daily wedgie.

"All those joys are juvenile pleasures, of course -- but pleasing nonetheless. But this ... now ... I've been reluctant to say these things, primarily because I've always suspected people who did wouldn't need to say it if it were true.

"But I'm here to testify: Two years of hard work, treating people right, meaning what I say and saying what I mean -- OWNING it -- have brought me riches I could never have imagined when I was coppin' a snooze in the [press] overlook room [off the Hackensack newsroom], lovin' an amazing woman half my age or engaging in a number of pleasurable activities that shall remain undisclosed (all, by the way, while producing undeniably excellent work for my employer. Yes, I saved every perf revue).

"Y'know what? You need a little fuck-you now and then to survive in this world. No better proof than the situation YOU are in as you read this.
The fact that I could tell your bosses to eat me when they came looking for dirt on one of my good friends is a badge of honor. As if I would've breathed a word if I did. Idiots.

"If you still have cause to mock, by all means, do. I'm even game if you want to run down the list of what got me shitcanned -- and exactly what was said in Susan B's office that final day [reference to Susan Beard, vice president of Human Resources].

"Just know that you can't insult any number of independent analytical sources that show CVP's traffic. 

"You also can't touch the meaning that what I do gives me.

"Like when a headstone was donated to the family whose daughter was murdered;

"Or when a state rep made it his business to find lost medals a war hero had been waiting years for, then arranged a special ceremony to present them;
Or when a boy who survived two brain surgeries got the vacation of his dreams.

"Then there was the night a room of 250 officers and their wives gave me a standing O. 

"Or the day that 40 chiefs met privately w/me to offer whatever support they could to CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

"I may not have been able to say it this clearly or with such conviction a year or so ago. But, w/out question, I've found my sweet spot. My "best" is being a member of a large, warm, fiercely loyal community, giving them a product they clearly enjoy while having it make a difference that I was here at all.

"How 'bout you?"

See previous post 
on today's paper