Editors finally focus on crisis in Aleppo, Syrian-Americans

In this map of Aleppo, Syria, published in August by the Carnegie Middle East Center, the Old City is in East Aleppo, right, where fighting to retake rebel-held areas and the humanitarian crisis have reached a crescendo in recent weeks.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Today, The Record's editors finally discover a local angle for reporting on the deepening humanitarian crisis in Aleppo, Syria.

Staff Writer Hannan Adely interviewed Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah and other Syrian-Americans who have lost touch with friends or relatives or know people who have been killed in the Syrian civil war (1A and 4A).  

This Page 1 story reminds readers of the one Adely wrote in November 2015 -- more than a week after Governor Christie announced that he wanted to bar all Syrian refugees from entering New Jersey.

Why the delay? Syrians have been immigrating to Paterson since the early 1900s.

In his column on Nov. 22, 2015, Staff Writer Mike Kelly called Christie "a crazy uncle" for saying he would not even allow Syrian orphans under the age of 5 into the United States.

His Page 1 column the day before was completely devoid of criticism or condemnation of anti-Muslim rhetoric in the wake of the Paris terror attacks.

Putin and Trump

Until today, The Record has avoided reporting on the links between President-elect Donald J. Trump and Russia.

A story on 11A today traces Trump's "soft spot for Russia" to his desire to sell his luxury condos to wealthy Russians.

Trump, a major apologist for Vladimir Putin, also has dismissed reports from U.S. intelligence agencies that the Russian dictator tried to influence the outcome of the Nov. 8 election in favor of the New York billionaire.

You need a magnifying glass to read the legal notices in The Record.

Book deal, legal ads

Since Sunday, The Record's news editors and editorial writers have been consumed by what they see as an assault on the right of the press to profit from the publication of legal ads (1A, 8A and 16A).

One question isn't addressed: 

Does anyone actually read those legal notices, which are printed in small type?

Today's front page is dominated once again by a package of legislation that includes Christie's "book bill;" raises for his Cabinet, legislative staffs, judges, county prosecutors and others; and eliminating the long-standing law requiring local governments to publish legal notices -- such as budgets, ordinance changes and contracts.

"Motivation for pushing the bill, and tying it to action on salaries and book deal, said to be revenge by Christie against newspapers for their coverage of his administration," according to The Record.

Local news?

Still, readers of The Record have to ask whether the publication of budgets and ordinances gives the news staff an excuse to ignore important local news, such as the campaign by nine candidates in the April election for three Board of Education seats in Hackensack.

There was no discussion of the issues in The Record or Hackensack Chronicle.

Nor did the daily or weekly paper report any of the details of the proposed $104 million school budget before voters went to the polls to approve or reject it -- even though education accounts for 44% of every homeowner's property tax bill.

Another 'food crawl'

Have "food crawl" articles in Better Living replaced the weekly restaurant review, and is it a budget-cutting move?

Freelancer Shelby Vittek is back today with a "Polish Food Crawl" on 14BL and 15BL, although the out of focus cover photo of pirogis with sour cream doesn't look appetizing at all.
Elisa Ung, the restaurant reviewer who left the paper in November, likely blew $200 to $300 or more on two meals with a friend at every one of the fine-dining restaurants she reviewed.

When Ung was hired more than 9 years ago, The Record allowed the restaurant critic to treat three other people to two dinners at each restaurant.

When The Record introduced the "Informal Dining" reviews Ung did once a month, that cut the paper's expenses.

Now, if the food crawl has replaced all restaurant reviews, the additional savings would be significant. 

Editors bury gun-control plea, restate obvious on Page 1

At Bergen Town Center in Paramus, an employee uses this fully electric vehicle to collect litter at properties on both sides of Forest Avenue.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record today buries a plea for gun control from the father of the Virginia reporter who was shot and killed on live television.

The placement of the story on A-4 suggests the media are partly responsible for why, as The Associated Press says, "winning such measures has proved nearly impossible in the United States."

Meanwhile, leading the paper at the top of Page 1, is a Mike Kelly column that simply restates the obvious -- "the inherent randomness of gun violence in America today" (A-1).

Where does Kelly think readers have been in the past decade or more as The Record and other media have reported one random shooting after another where children and adults gather?

Without warning, innocent people have been slaughtered in schools, churches, movie theaters, malls and on the streets of impoverished cities like Paterson (L-1).

What is remarkable about the piece from Kelly -- who has written extensively about 9/11 and the proposal for a mosque near Ground Zero -- is that this may be the first time he has had anything kind to say about Muslims.

Cheap gas

Also on the front page today, the editors promote cheap gas without pausing to consider the impact of more driving on air pollution, traffic congestion and climate change (A-1 and A-10).

Staff Writer Melissa Hayes, who has been traveling with Governor Christie in his doomed bid for the presidency, is back on A-1 today with another upbeat story, "even though he's a second-tier candidate who ranked ninth" in a poll released Thursday (A-1).

Editor Martin Gottlieb even gave the obscure "clam shrimp" better play (A-1) than Andy Parker's decision to fight for gun control.

3 corrections

Three corrections today suggest Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, and Production Editor Liz Houlton, failed again in their responsibility to deliver a completely accurate local report (A-2).

One of the corrections notes that in his Friday column on A-1, Road Warrior John Cichowski mistakenly killed a 13-year-old who survived a Route 80 crash -- adding to the hundreds of errors that have cemented his reputation as the most inaccurate reporter in the newsroom.

Local news?

The large number of Law & Order stories today could mean Sykes and Forza took a three-day weekend, leaving it to the police and court reporters to fill their thin section (L-1, L-2, L-3 and L-6).

On the half shell

For a good read, see a story on the comeback of the Delaware Bay oyster industry and the succulent Cape May Salt by freelancer Shelby Vittek (BL-1).