Day after day, Gannett editors keep readers' eyes rolling

"Barbarians" is the title of this cartoon by Arend van Dam, who has Russian strongman Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad bombing residents of Aleppo, Syria, as the civil war drags on.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Recovering addicts helping overdose patients into treatment programs surely is an important story, but does it really belong on Page 1 of The Record today?

There isn't much else on the front page for readers of the redesigned Woodland Park daily, which is struggling after another major downsizing.

Staff Writer Hannan Adely is reprising the eight-year-old case against Imam Mohammad Qatanani, spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Passaic County (1A).

And so-called Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson is following the difficult last days of Scott Garrett, the Tea Party radical who lost his seat in Congress on Nov. 8 (1A).

Trump and Syria

Where are the stories and commentary about President-elect Donald J. Trump's praise and support for Russian thug Vladimir Putin, whose bombers are pulverizing Aleppo, Syria?

Paterson and other towns in Passaic County are called home by thousands of Syrian Christians and Muslims, including refugees from the civil war who are worried about their future with Trump in office.

On A-2, the editors run two corrections about a Sunday advertising section called Tribute to Nurses, but there is no explanation why staffers at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center were omitted. 

Local news?

Just as drug addiction is the big news on Page 1 today, homelessness is the major element on the Local front (1L).

The focus is on "Grandma's House" in Clifton, one of several Passaic County stories delivered to Bergen County readers today (1L, 2L and 6L).

In fact, there are more stories from towns like Clifton, Paterson and Haledon than from Bergen communities, including Hackensack.

Editors come down hard on Christie, but six years too late

Solar panels form the roof of the Bergen County Administration Building's employee parking garage in Hackensack.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

In 2010, Governor Christie delayed the first expansion of metropolitan area rail service in ages by at least a decade.

In torpedoing new Hudson River rail tunnels, he ensured that hundreds of thousands of commuters would face increasing traffic congestion, loss of productivity, worsening air pollution, and fewer seats on NJ Transit trains and buses.

But The Record of Woodland Park didn't see the monumental consequences of his actions, and pretty much swallowed whole his claim he killed the project to save taxpayers millions more in cost overruns.

Now, today's editorial is blaming "the Christie administration" for turning NJ Transit "from the jewel of regional commuter-rail systems to the joke of them; it has been a race to the bottom" (O-2).

But Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin has only himself to blame.

He ignored the ramifications of the tunnel decision, then refused to out the governor when Christie grabbed hundreds of millions of dollars in leftover funds to pave roads and fix bridges.

That allowed the GOP thug to impose his conservative fiscal policies on the state, and continue vetoing a hike in the gasoline tax to fund Transportation Trust Fund road and rail improvements.

Doblin didn't even protest Christie slashing state subsidies to NJ Transit by more than 90 percent, triggering fare hikes and service cuts, and delaying an automatic braking system that could have prevented last month's fatal train crash in Hoboken.

Trump, Garrett on A-1

Today's front page is dominated by a large photo of GOP presidential nominee and sexual predator Donald J. Trump bringing his campaign of lies, racism and hatred to Edison (A-1 and A-3).

Leading the paper is an investigative piece on accidental shootings of minors -- one every other day during the first six months of the year (A-1).

So you'd think a Page 1 story on Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, would mention one of the most conservative members of Congress gets an "A" from the National Rifle Association for opposing gun control.

But it doesn't. 

Garrett lies

In Opinion, Columnist Brigid Harrison asks, "Why would Garrett knowingly mislead voters" in ads about his opponent, Democrat Josh Gottheimer (O-4).

"Why would he blame his opponent for ridiculous positions, and mislead voters about his own record?"

She answers her own questions by revealing that in 13 years in office, the 5th District congressman "has successfully had [only] four pieces of legislation become law."

Unbearable

For the second day in a row, The Record is publicizing a protest over the death of a bear named "Pedals," which walked upright and had a Facebook page before he was killed by a bow hunter (L-1).

It isn't known whether the protesters have demonstrated against the mistreatment and death of humans, including the slaughter of innocent children and teens during gang shootouts in Paterson.

A story on a food fest in Clifton notes the city of 86,000 is "among the most diverse in the state and has large Latino, Middle Eastern and Polish communities (L-1).

But Staff Writer Pat Alex neglects to mention African-Americans made up less than 5% of the city's population in the 2010 census, even though Clifton surrounds Passaic city and shares a border with Paterson.

Second coming

Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung devotes her entire Sunday column to cauliflower dishes at restaurants, "noting the white flowered vegetable has become one of the hottest trends in the food world" (BL-1).

Ung's column, The Corner Table, appears on the Better Living cover, which two years ago, nearly to the day, carried another story on cauliflower's resurgence under this headline:

"CAULIFLOWER'S COMEBACK"

Commentary, lack of editing are two of paper's biggest flaws

Hundreds, if not thousands, of New Jersey residents have already received mail-in ballots for the Nov. 8 election; and made their choices for president, 5th District congressman and county offices, as well as voted "yes" or "no" on two ballot questions. Meanwhile, an editorial in The Record today endorses Democrat Hillary Clinton for president.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

As usual, readers are having a hard time telling what point Columnist Herb Jackson is trying to make on Page 1 today.

Do ads paid for by "the super PAC of the National Association of Realtors" -- saying that Democratic congressional candidate Josh Gottheimer would "protect the 30-year mortgage" -- mean the businessman is in the pocket of special interests (A-1)?

As Jackson reports, Gottheimer's opponent, Rep. Scott Garrett, a Republican from Wantage in Sussex County, "crossed the Realtors group by pushing a bill in 2013 that would have scaled back the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-backed companies that buy mortgages from lenders."

Readers of the front page still don't know what all of this means until Jackson quotes "an outspoken critic of federal housing policy" saying that Garrett, in effect, was trying to stop "more government subsidies for housing."

It gets worse. If you stick with Jackson (few readers will get beyond A-1), you find out the bill pushed by Garrett would mean "thousands of people in New Jersey would have to pay more or not get a mortgage at all," according to New Jersey Citizens Action (A-6).

Then, the column goes on and on, giving the impression that Jackson and other columnists at The Record are encouraged to write long, convoluted pieces that violate the cardinal rule of daily journalism:

Telling the reader in the first or first few paragraphs exactly what you're trying to say.

And for opinion columnists like Jackson, Mike Kelly and Charles Stile, the lack of opinions in their work is even more alarming.

This trio of columnists rarely express opinions; they usually only quote so-called experts on each side of an issue in a tedious he said/she said account that resembles a news story or analysis.

Lack of editing

In his front-page column on Monday, Stile reports that as hundreds of Republicans across the country are abandoning GOP presidential nominee Donald J. Trump, "Governor Christie strode right into the vortex" (A-1).

"There's a simple reason why: He has no other place to go [italics added]."

Another Christie column appeared on Monday's Editorial Page (A-11), written by Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin:

"Republicans are lining up in disgust [over Trump boasting about kissing and groping women]. Not Christie.

"He's all in with Trump, probably because he has nowhere else to go" [italics added].

Kelly column

Kelly's Sunday column on the Opinion front cried out for editing, because only readers who slogged through the veteran reporter's awkward phrases, such as "Christie's self-definition," got to see him throw the strongest punches ever at the GOP thug and Trump sidekick (O-1).

His column begins with a tedious recap of testimony in the Bridgegate trial that Christie unleashed a series of F-bombs against a Monmouth County freeholder who criticized him and called him fat.

Christie reminded him he is "the fucking Governor of this state."

Kelly also spends a few paragraphs recounting the governor's tough-guy act during his nearly seven years in office.

It's only on the continuation page -- in his last four or five paragraphs -- that Kelly gets to the F-ing point:

Kelly uses "[expletive]" for the word Christie used in his tirade against the freeholder, "fucking" or "fuck" (Sunday's O-4):

"Our [expletive] governor actually believed he had the intellectual depth and temperament to be president of the entire nation ....

"... Bridgegate has reminded us that Chris Christie's bully act has grown old -- that this man has the quick-trigger temperament of a teenager.

"Yes, Christie is definitely a governor defined by expletives, In these expletives, he has made himself fragile and forlorn and forsaken.

"Soon, he will be forgotten -- finally."

A second mail-in ballot asks voters to say "yes" or "no" on allowing casinos to operate in North Jersey, and whether they want the state constitution amended so that all gas-tax revenue goes toward road and rail repairs and improvements.

Clinton endorsement

Today's editorial on the presidential race and an "Open letter to Trump" are laid out across A-8 with portraits of Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald J. Trump by Staff Artist R.L. Rebach.

"The choice is clear: Hillary Clinton. She is qualified, prepared and capable," according to the editorial endorsing her for president.

"Donald Trump will fight with Americans; Hillary Clinton will fight for America."

The open letter to Trump concludes:

"America needs a president, Mr. Trump, not a predator.

"Abandon this race."

Wacko racist Trump stumps with Plump to pay GOP debts

A horse and carriage returning along Prospect Avenue from the Hackensack High School Prom Show Off on Thursday night, above and below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

In a joint appearance with Governor Christie, Donald Trump's subliminal messages to "Make America Hate Again" and "Make America White Again" went over big in Lawrenceville on Thursday night.

More than 1,000 people paid $200 each to see the apparent Republican presidential nominee, and hear his promise to build a wall along the Mexican border, The Record reports today.

A private, $25,000-a-ticket fundraiser went toward more than $300,000 in legal bills from the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal exclusive of the $10 million taxpayers forked over to get Christie off of the hook (A-1 and A-8).

Exploits vulnerable

Meanwhile, faced with another big budget gap, Christie is once again exploiting the most vulnerable, and plans to cut millions from charity care (A-1 on Thursday).

An editorial today (A-18) carefully avoids mentioning that a tax surcharge on millionaires Christie has vetoed at least tree times would nearly cover the $1.1 billion revenue shortfall.

What else would you expect from Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin, who has the filthy rich owners of the Woodland Park daily breathing down his neck? 

A Saturday Night Live skit shows crackpot Donald Trump and a humiliated Chris Christie conferring on a vice presidential candidate to run with the apparent Republican presidential nominee in November -- anyone but Christie.

Trump picks Dr. Ben Carson, right.

Legal fees

Stories on a $15 million lawsuit settlement and a $2.2 million jury award today and Thursday don't mention that the plaintiff's lawyers are expected to take at least one-third of that for payment of legal fees and expenses (A-1 and L-1).

Attorney Samuel L. Davis, who won the $15 million deal, represents Juliana Valdez, now 13, who had 22 surgeries after her foot was mangled by an escalator at a Paramus mall in 2013 (A-1).

Should any lawyer who worked on one case part time for three years be paid more than $5 million?

Rare victory

Another Page 1 story today reports a rare victory in the battle to get Ford Motor Co. to remove all of the 166,000 tons of toxic paint sludge dumped 50 years ago in Ringwood (A-1).

Borough officials "have suspended plans to build a recycling center on top of a mountain of contaminated soil," The Record reports.

Still, there is no mention anywhere in the story that the "Ramapo Lenape tribe" (A-8) are a mixed-race people who have been discriminated against for hundreds of years.

In previous stories, The Record has called them "low income." 

Scott Garrett

In all the years Staff Writer Herb Jackson has been covering Rep. Scott Garrett, D-Wantage, today might be the first time he's described him as having "the most conservative record in the state's delegation" to Congress (A-1).

Josh Gotthheimer, the Democrat challenger in November, goes further, calling Garrett a key member of the racist Tea Party.

Readers want to know why Jackson, the so-called Washington correspondent, has never mentioned Garrett's Tea Party credentials.

'To die for'

One thing I learned in many years of copy editing for The Record is to avoid using the word "die" in a headline over a food piece.

But that didn't stop the copy editor who handled Elisa Ung's Informal Dining Review of a takeout-only deli in Fair Lawn.

"Heroes to die for"

Could that be "to die from"?

Ung tells readers nothing about the cold cuts used in the hero sandwiches except they are "imported" or from stores in "the famous Arthur Avenue Italian neighborhood in the Bronx" (BL-14). 

Big deal.

What readers really want to know is whether the meat in the cold cuts was naturally raised and is free of nitrates and other preservatives that have been linked to cancer.

Under her puzzling rating system, she awards the deli, A Family Affair, only two out of three stars, meaning "if you're nearby, a must-eat."

So, I guess Ung is saying if you live in Hackensack, Englewood, Wyckoff, Mahwah, Wayne and many other towns, don't bother.

'Vintage Christie' is liar, thief and N.J.'s worst nightmare

The Bergen County Courthouse complex in Hackensack is a huge construction zone as work continues on a new Justice Center, above. Meanwhile, garage parking is free for attorneys, jurors and visitors until ticket machines become operational, below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record is describing Governor Christie's string of insults and verbal attacks on Tuesday as "a vintage version" of the politician.

A Page 1 story today claimed his speech to business leaders and other appearances recalled the Christie "who rose to national fame hurling invective at his adversaries and dressing down supporters, if they strayed from the path."

A pubic relations firm couldn't have said it better.

But Editor Martin Gottlieb and Staff Writer Dustin Racioppi are supposed to be journalists who level with readers on the front page.

If they did that, they would remind us "vintage" Christie is the candidate who told a big lie to get elected -- that he would lower local property taxes and force towns to regionalize to save public funds.

"Vintage" Christie is the mean-spirited governor who killed the Hudson River rail tunnels -- the biggest expansion of mass transit in decades -- then stole leftover funds to fix roads and bridges.

"Vintage" Christie is the GOP bully who cut funding for state worker benefits, vetoed a tax surcharge on millionaires and used money earmarked for environmental cleanup to balance the state budget.

In short, "vintage" Christie is the worst governor in state history.

2016 election

So-called Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson already has started to cover the 2016 contest between Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, and Democrat Josh Gottheimer, a Microsoft executive from Wyckoff (A-3).

As he has done in the past, Jackson is expected to call the election on the basis of who has raised the most money.

Litigious lawyers

For a rare story on lawyers screwing lawyers, as opposed to clients, see the first Business page (L-9).

Roper & Twardosky LLC of Totowa filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors, including lawyers who assisted the firm and say they are owed from $497,000 to $2.8 million each.

New normal is baseball, crime, animal news and politics

The entrance to Costco Wholesale's bigger store in Teterboro during a preview party on Tuesday night. The store opened for business on Wednesday morning. The old warehouse store in Hackensack will reopen next year as a Costco Business Center catering to small businesses, but open to all members.

Costco offers organic and non-organic produce at low prices.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Editor Martin Gottlieb of The Record must be so tired of the news business.

That's the only possible conclusion judging from the last three days of Gottlieb's lazy, inconsequential front pages:

Baseball and animal news, a Teaneck man charged with killing his mother and brother, and ignoring the issues in presidential and congressional races to report on fundraising.

Today's paper, for example, goes over in great detail how much Governor Christie has raised in his quixotic bid for the White House (A-1).

Then, on A-3, a long story reports Rep. Scott Garrett's fundraising has slowed.

Garrett, a seven-term conservative Republican from Wantage in Sussex County, represents a good chunk of Bergen County.

Staff Writer Herb Jackson, the paper's so-called Washington correspondent, who wrote today's story on Garrett, has written far less about issues.

In fact, Jackson has called previous Garrett elections solely on the basis of the congressman's fundraising ability.

Local news?

The only Hackensack news today involves police wounding a murder suspect who "confronted officers with a large knife" (L-1).

Residents who want to know why their property taxes are so high would like the paper to look into inflated school and administrative salaries, and why the Board of Education pays lunchroom aides at two schools $22 an hour.

The principal of the high school is paid more than $172,000 a year, just a few thousand less than Christie.

Between the bread

A rave informal dining review of Bogie's Hoagies in Hawthorne would be far better if the critic reported whether the chicken, beef and ham used in the sandwiches are naturally raised (BL-16).

But I guess Staff Writer Elisa Ung was distracted again by her raging obsession with dessert, including "the fudgiest brownie, served in a dangerously generous chunk" and an "enormous chunk of bread pudding, studded with cranberries and chocolate pieces."

When it comes to sugar, this woman is out of control.

This is yet another review from outside Bergen County, which Ung seems to be neglecting for some reason.  

Thursday's paper

Thursday's A-2 corrected two major errors, but I had to rescue my Sports section from the recycling bin to look at another major boo-boo.

A Record reader says Sports Columnist Steve Popper erred when he reported Lamar Odom was found unconscious Tuesday in "a Las Vegas brothel."

The reader noted:

"As all of the news sources showed he [Odom] was at the bunny ranch, which is 60 or so miles away. Actually, prostitution is illegal in Las Vegas. Every other news source has the right location."

Sun glare blamed

A second school crossing guard was injured critically by a driver who may have been blinded by sun glare.

Thursday's L-1 story doesn't name the driver who knocked down the Westwood senior, a retired engineer, or whether any charges will be filed.

Nor is there any reporting on whether car manufacturers can produce a windshield that cuts down on glare.

Wednesday's paper

On Wednesday's A-1, The Associated Press story on the Democratic debate reported Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' comment on the media-manufactured controversy over Hillary Clinton's emails.

"The Secretary is right," Sanders said of Clinton. "The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails."

Voters want to discuss "the real issues," Sanders said, reiterating a message The Record and other media continue to ignore.

Best headline

The headline in The Record on Wednesday's L-6 was good, but the one in an email from the Hackensack Daily Voice site was better.

First, The Record:

"Man attempting suicide

survives being hit by train"

But the Daily Voice did a tabloid turn on the events over a Jerry DeMarco byline:

"Hackensack man hit by train

 loses arm, walks home"

Best editors can do is an all-Trump, all-infrastructure A-1

In a front-page story on Monday, The Record hailed the 25-year-old Americans with Disabilities Act, but didn't discuss the widespread misuse of parking spaces reserved for the handicapped. Spaces at 24 Hour Fitness on Route 4 in Paramus, above, often seem to be filled by drivers who bound out of their vehicles and seem able bodied. Of course, their handicap could be mental.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Even if you ignore today's all-Trump, all-infrastructure front page, you'll find a story about La Guardia Airport on A-3 and another on the federal highway bill on A-4.

All of this infrastructure news helps Editor Martin Gottlieb of The Record reinforce his reputation for long, dull stories.

And even if you read between the lines, it won't be clear that conservative Republicans like Governor Christie and the party's elite in Congress are the ones standing in the way of expanded mass transit, as well as rebuilding roads and bridges (A-1).

The Record's story on Donald Trump's business interests in New Jersey is being upstaged today by a report from Bloomberg that the presidential candidate is worth $2.9 billion -- not the $10 billion he claims.

Scott Garrett

One of those opposing the federal highway bill is Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, the Tea Party idol whose fundraising received more scrutiny on Monday's front page than it has in many years.

In a column, Staff Writer Herb Jackson reported Garrett raised nearly $1 million in both 2012 and 2014 election cycles from "employees and PACs tied to banking, insurance, securities and real estate interests."

Garrett is chairman of the subcommittee that reviews legislation affecting those industries.

Today, a story on the Local front reports protesters at Garrett's Glen Rock district office on Monday called for his resignation (L-1).

They cited Garrett as a co-sponsor of the First Amendment Defense Act, "which would offer protections to people and groups who cite their religious beliefs when declining services to same-sex couples seeking to marry."

Believable?

How believable is this headline on L-1 today?

ATM workers
lose $150,000
left on lawn

The word "lose" should have been written in quotation marks.

And doesn't it sound like police should be exploring whether the ATM workers and a man in a white van who took the bag of cash are working together?

Yet that possibility isn't raised in the story.

Political plum?

Another story in Local has so little information it's pathetic.

The report on retired North Arlington Police Chief Louis Ghione doesn't explain how he got a plum Port Authority job, "security manager at ... One World Trade Center" (L-3).

Ghione, who was chief since 1982, will receive roughly $200,000 in accumulated vacation and sick time from the borough, an annual pension of $131,000 and the Port Authority salary, which is missing from the story.

His age also isn't given, and readers aren't told whether he will be able to get a second pension from the Port Authority when he retires from that job.

'Pending' suit

Editing lapses like that have become commonplace -- fallout from continuing economies in the newsroom that began in 2008, and ineffective, six-figure Production Editor Liz Houlton and her minions, including the supervisor of the copy desk.

Is there a difference between a "lawsuit" and "pending lawsuit"?

I'm not a lawyer, but I doubt it.

Yet, in a story leading Monday's Local section, no editor seemed to notice that Staff Writer Minjae Park said a lawsuit is "pending" three times in the first five paragraphs (Monday's L-1).

PA backing of rail tunnels is really bad news for bus riders

NJ Transit buses were gridlocked outside the Port Authority's midtown Manhattan bus terminal during the afternoon rush last summer, above and below.

After dropping off commuters in the morning, many NJ Transit buses return empty and park near the New Jersey entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel and in other lots until they are needed in the afternoon, causing massive congestion on tunnel approaches.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Port Authority backing for new Hudson River tunnels is great news for rail commuters, as you can see on Page 1 of The Record today.

But it looks like bus riders will be stuck in traffic for the foreseeable future.

The massive bi-state agency has been screwing North Jersey's bus patrons for decades, refusing to add a second reverse bus lane into the Lincoln Tunnel in the morning and start a new reverse lane in the afternoon. 

That means city bound NJ Transit riders must scramble for rush-hour seats in the A.M., and wait on long, serpentine lines in an antiquated bus terminal for their home-bound buses in the P.M.

The Record's transportation reporter, Christopher Maag; Road Warrior John Cichowski and all of the other transportation writers in the past couple of decades likely have never taken a bus into the city.

Otherwise, they would be aware of an easy way to cut delays for NJ Transit bus commuters.

Of course, the hitch is all about money: 

The Port Authority doesn't want to add Lincoln Tunnel lanes reserved exclusively for buses, because that would mean fewer drivers paying exorbitant Hudson River tolls and less money to cover cost overruns on such projects as the new World Trade Center.

Ben E. King

If you're black, there are only a few ways to get on the front page of The Record of Woodland Park:

Accomplish what soul singer Ben E. King did (A-1); get shot and killed in one of the drive-by shootings the Paterson police are unable or unwilling to stop; or commit a crime so heinous you catch the attention of Editor Martin Gottlieb.

If you're black or Hispanic, there is even less chance of getting a job in the Woodland Park newsroom.

Correction

For the few history buffs who read Thursday's front-page story on the Lusitania sinking in 1915, a correction on A-2 today tells you the editors still can't get the facts straight even with 100 years of perspective.

Local news?

Is it possible that Scott Garrett, the crackpot Republican in the 5th Congressional District, just held "his first town-hall-style meeting" (L-1)?

The darling of the Tea Party has been in office since 2003, and now represents residents of Hackensack, Teaneck, Fair Lawn and other towns in Bergen and Passaic counties.

Why didn't I read about that when Garrett was challenged by Hackensack attorney Roy Cho last November?

Turkish -- again?

Given the over-saturation of Turkish restaurants in North Jersey, many readers are questioning Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung's decision to praise another one in Cliffside Park (BL-18).

She gives 3 stars to Cinar (Excellent), even though there wasn't enough sugar in the rice pudding ($5.95).

As usual, she tells readers nothing about how the chicken, beef and lamb on the menu were raised.

I also wonder why Ung, in July 2014, wrote a brief about a noodle-and-cheese dish served at Istanbul Borek and Kebab in Cliffside, but never sampled the the new restaurant's dinner menu.

Decades of no change in racism, corruption, judiciary

Let's hope warmer temperatures melt the ice and snow covering the sidewalk on this corner near Target in Hackensack before a pedestrian breaks his neck.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's front page today carries three stories that suggest little has changed in decades when it comes to racism, official corruption and high legal fees that deny access to the courts.

Recent attacks on President Obama by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and other Republicans show racism is alive and well 50 years after "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Ala. (A-1).

An indictment naming U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., will expose the corrupt system of campaign financing, but probably not change the way The Record and other media ignore the need for reforms (A-1).

The Page 1 story on the retirement of Bergen County Assignment Judge Peter E. Doyne was written for other judges and lawyers, not for the public, including people who can't afford high legal fees (A-1).

In fact, Doyne is returning to the private practice of law for the "money" -- legal fees of hundreds of dollars an hour that appear to be completely unregulated by the judiciary.

Staff Writer Kibret Markos, who once covered the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack, is himself a lawyer, but you won't find any details his Doyne story -- certainly not his salary as an assignment judge or the hourly fee he is expected to command when he joins a Hackensack law firm.

In fact, in all the years Markos has reported on multi-million dollar legal settlements and jury awards, he never told readers about the substantial amount lawyers always raked off the top. 

Herb Jackson

Another Record reporter is in the news today, Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson, who is described on A-3 today as "a face that has for years struck fear into the hearts of North Jersey politicians."

What a joke. What can you expect? That lead paragraph was written by a Record reporter in Woodland Park, Stephanie Akin.

Jackson's selective memory doesn't strike fear in politicians' hearts; it gladdens them.

That certainly was the case before the November election when Hackensack lawyer Roy Cho campaigned against Rep. Scott Garrett, the crackpot conservative from the 5th District.

In a major front-page story, Jackson somehow forgot to mention that Garrett initially opposed billions in federal aid for victims of Superstorm Sandy.

To impress Jackson, all you have to do is raise a ton of special interest money to crush your opponents.

In fact, his coverage of an incumbent and challenger is directly in proportion to how much money they raise -- the incumbent usually gets the lion's share of his attention, because the reporter isn't interested in issues-oriented stories.

How else to explain that the first thing Jackson tells you about Menendez today is that the Cuban-American senator is "a prolific campaign fundraiser" (A-1).

Local schools

Readers might be questioning the poor job some school officials do to safeguard students after reading today's Page 1 story on a fifth-grader who jumped to his death (A-1).

The death of a 10-year-old from Dumont follows that of a 7-year-old killed by a falling table in January at a school in New Milford.

Local news

Head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her deputy, Dan Sforza, continue to struggle to fill their thin section with legitimate news (L-1 to L-6).

Today, they needed two filler photos of minor accidents (L-2 and L-3), and a long wire service obituary for an obscure documentary film maker (L-6).

On the Local front, Staff Writer Melissa Hayes reports on Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg of Teaneck attending "a summit" to develop "policies to bolster the middle class."

That's in stark contrast to Hayes' full-time job of covering Governor Christie, who is famous for policies that are destroying the middle class in New Jersey, though you certainly don't know it from any of her stories.