Editors testing readers' patience for unlimited holiday cheer

"Refugees" is from cartoonist John Cole. The Record and many other news outlets continue to ignore the carnage of the Syrian civil war, which began in March 2011; the role of Russia in keeping the regime in power and whether Russian President Vladimir Putin helped Donald J. Trump win the U.S. presidential election.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

We have much to celebrate during Christmas and Hanukkah, but the holidays aren't easing our nationwide anxiety with a Trump presidency just 26 days away.

Meanwhile, the Sunday edition of The Record is laying on the holiday cheer with upbeat columns and stories on nearly every section front, even though many of them are flawed.

For example, on Page 1, the enormous amount of space devoted to Nora Renzulli, a Wayne woman who volunteers to serve meals at Eva's Village in Paterson, ignores thousands of others who are just as dedicated (1A).

On the Local front, Road Warrior John Cichowski so-called Wish List for Santa is so heavily focused on drivers that he becomes a Road Scrooge for the tens of thousands who commute by train or bus (1L).

His lone reference to the midtown Manhattan Port Authority Bus Terminal as "a sardine-can relic" is inaccurate.

Nor does he know enough to call for more exclusive bus lanes to the Lincoln Tunnel as a way of providing immediate relief until a new terminal is built.

2016 election

An Associated Press story reports that polling after the November election found that "nearly two-thirds of voters described the [strong] economy as 'not so good' or 'poor' (16A).

But the AP ignores whether racism and misogyny were among the real reasons they voted for Trump.

On the Opinion front, a long piece by Merrill Brown, director of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University, argues a Trump administration will test news organizations as never before (1O).

However, Brown doesn't discuss how the news media's intense focus on state and national politics -- as opposed to policies, issues and what's good for the state or country -- is the biggest possible disservice to voters.  

Cartoonists are having a field day with Trump transition

President-elect Donald J. Trump's nomination of Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State raises potential conflicts in Russia and other countries where the oil giant does business. This cartoon, "Scrabble Connection," is from R.J. Matson. Go to Cagle.com to see this and many other political cartoons.

"Nyet" is from cartoonist Dave Grunland.

"Trump's Cabinet Picks" is from cartoonist Daryl Cagle.

"Rex and Vlad" is from cartoonist Taylor Jones.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Now that the nasty battle with Governor Christie over public notices has subsided, The Record returns to peddling front pages filled with soft news.

Meanwhile, the transition of President-elect Donald J. Trump continues to set a record for potential conflicts of interest, but readers have to search the paper for them (7A). 

Bergen County readers looking over the Local front today find that three out of four stories are from Passaic and Hudson counties (1L).

USS Ling

Stephen A. Borg, former publisher of The Record, is denying any moral responsibility for saving the USS Ling from an ignominious end.

An editorial and a news story allow Borg to bow out of any role in saving the World War II submarine, which is literally stuck in the mud of the Hackensack River (8A today and 1A on Wednesday).

Borg -- whose grandfather negotiated the 1974 deal to lease land to the New Jersey Naval Museum for $1 a year -- ended the arrangement this year, apparently in anticipation of selling The Record and other North Jersey Media Group newspapers to Gannett. 

The Borg family reportedly received $40 million for NJMG, but retained the publishing company's retirement and pension funds, as well as nearly 20 acres along River Street in Hackensack, where the Ling is tied up.

Abandons Hackensack

The younger Borg has formed a new company, Fourth Edition, and calls himself a developer. 

The land, which is believed to be worth more than $20 million, is in a flood zone.

Nevertheless, the city of Hackensack has approved it for apartments and possibly a hotel as part of a sweeping downtown rehabilitation plan.

After he took over from his father, former NJMG Chairman Malcolm A. Borg, Stephen Borg worked quickly to cut The Record's ties to Hackensack and the USS Ling.

Borgs always first

Still, the younger Borg made sure to line his own pockets with a $3.65 million NJMG mortgage for a Tenafly McMansion, and drew a salary of about $350,000 a year.

He moved printing of The Record and Herald News to Rockaway Township nearly a decade ago.

In 2008 -- several months after he received the $3.65 million mortgage -- he put into the motion the biggest newsroom downsizing in the paper's history.

And in 2009, in a royal F.U. to Hackensack, he closed NJMG's headquarters, moving the newsroom to Woodland Park.  

The Record had prospered in Hackensack for more than 110 years.

Amen to today's editorial: 'Trump cannot trump' free speech

This cartoon from Rayma Suprani is a reminder U.S. news media have reported President-elect Donald J. Trump's frequent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but never reminded Americans that Putin's bombers are killing innocent civilians in Aleppo, Syria, and prolonging the civil war.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The negative reaction to an actor in "Hamilton" reading a prepared statement from the cast to Vice President-elect Mike Pence makes you wonder if we're still living in a country founded on free speech.

For example, among the letters to the editor of The Record today, Paul Ferrantino of Wanaque claims that "as a retired professional actor, I am embarrassed by the behavior" of the "Hamilton" cast (8A).

Though he doesn't name him, Ferrantino goes on to criticize actor Brandon Victor Dixon:

"Taking advantage of a captive audience, which included the vice president-elect of our United States, in this way was nothing more than a dirty trick, or at the least, an unfair way to espouse one's political views."

"Dirty trick" or "unfair"? No way.

Civics lesson

The Record's unsigned editorial on the brouhaha ends with the forty-five words in the First Amendment to the Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The First Amendment is a reminder that President-elect Donald J. Trump was wrong to tweet his demand for the actor to apologize.

Today's editorial puts it this way: 

"... No free pass is given on matters related to the First Amendment. The pun is intended. Trump cannot trump that. There is no [political] honeymoon for stomping on free speech" (8A).

Cast statement

The prepared statement from the hit show's cast "raised the concerns of people of color, of immigrants and of the LGBT community that the new administration may not do them right," as the editorial puts it.

"We truly hope," the actor told Pence, "that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us."

Good luck with that, given all the hate speech Trump indulged in during the campaign.

But who can blame the cast for seizing the opportunity to speak directly to the vice president-elect in the hope the message will be delivered to the Dictator-In-Chief?

What a paper!

The main element on Page 1 today demonstrates how U.S. Customs officials have bamboozled another reporter into writing a story on "banned foods" international visitors supposedly hide in their suitcases (1A).

"Hundreds of pounds" of contraband are destroyed each week at Newark Liberty International Airport, the story reports.

Is that really worthy of a front page that has only three stories on it?

Staff Writer Monsy Alvarado is no kid just out  of journalism school, but you won't find a word about any actual harm foreign pests or animal diseases have wrought in the United States.

Customs officers should concentrate on stopping illegal drugs and guns from entering the country, and not obsess over worms in Portuguese chestnuts.

Another big weakness in the story is Alvarado never explaining why visitors bother to stuff their luggage with foods that are widely available in supermarkets and specialty stores in ethnically diverse New Jersey.

Local news?

In Local today, Bergen County readers find stories from only seven of the 90 communities in The Record's circulation area, including three from Paterson and two from other Passaic County towns.

And many readers note with horror that error-prone Staff Writer John Cichowski -- aka Road Warrior or is it Road Worrier -- apparently decided not to follow the example of many other staffers his age who retired during last week's drastic Gannett downsizing (1L).

Monday's paper

If they read The Record, commuters who ride NJ Transit buses into the city don't know whether a new midtown bus terminal is on or off.

The latest episode in blow-by-blow coverage ran on The Record's front page on Monday, when Staff Writer Paul Berger reported on a "feud" between the Port Authority board chairman -- an appointee of Governor Christie -- and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (1A).

With actual construction of a new terminal many years away, wouldn't it be nice if Berger tried to explain why there are no rush-hour seats on NJ Transit buses and why officials don't add more exclusive bus lanes into and out of the Lincoln Tunnel.