No exit for drowsy readers

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Editor Francis Scandale seems to have a talent for making the front page of The Record of Woodland Park as boring as possible. Even the story on drowsy driving deaths puts readers to sleep. That's such old news. And the merger of two water agencies? It's all speculation.


Will Governor Christie run for president in 2016? That's like five years away. Just last week, he completely ruled it out, but on "Meet the Press" on Sunday, he apparently left the door open. No one asked Christie how many hundreds of thousands of state residents would like to get rid of the bully at the end of his first term, in 2014.

The caption on the continuation page of the "Meet the Press" story is inaccurate. The "short of suicide" comment wasn't made to moderator David Gregory on Sunday; it was made last week, as the story notes.

If the front page is boring, what can you say about head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local section? It's the usual Monday mix of charity, volunteer and non-profit news -- with hardly any municipal news.

The weekly statistical look "at issues affecting North Jersey" is about "binge drinking." If you saw the size of some of the editors, you'd understand why it isn't about "binge eating." 

Circulation is dropping

In a statement printed as a business story last week, Publisher Stephen A. Borg gloated. He said The Record's circulation has dropped less than that of the Star-Ledger and the New York papers in the past year, but he didn't reveal the figures include the Herald News, which is considered an "edition" of the former Hackensack daily. 

Borg gave the total circulation as 137,269 daily and 171,348 Sunday. Compare that to 162,572 daily and 192,816 Sunday -- the figures listed on the North Jersey Media Group Web site for the end of 2007.

That's a drop of about 25,000 daily and more than 20,000 Sunday in three short years under his so-called leadership.

Raising the spoiled brats

A comment from one of my many Anonymous readers takes me to task for saying Stehpen A. Borg and big sister Jennifer A. Borg were raised in Englewood.

Jennifer was born May 14, 1965, and Stephen was born May 13, 1968. 

She attended boarding school in Connecticut (The Hotchkiss School), and was there when her parents moved to Englewood. Stephen attended the private Dwight-Englewood School in Englewood.

Lock him up, throw away the key

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The New Jersey blue-plate special. It's often seen on cars that are driven conservatively.

 Editor's note: This post was published prematurely, then taken down to complete it.

Trains and buses into Manhattan are standing-room-only during rush hours, the local bus system is on its last legs and traffic congestion is choking the region. So what does commuting columnist John Cichowski write about on Page 1 of The Record of Woodland Park today? How the state hopes to raise extra money through the sale of special license plates.


If this Desk Warrior actually went to Leesburg state prison to interview two inmates who make New Jersey plates with NASCAR and sports-team logos, it apparently was one of the few times he left the office on a story in recent years. 

Chick, as he's known around the office, mostly writes about the problems of hundreds of drivers who send him e-mails that keep him  riveted to his office chair, while head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes pats him affectionately on the head. 


His column today is another crime against readers. Someone should lock him up and throw away the key.

What about local elections?

The big element on A-1 today is a wire-service story forecasting the outcome of today's midterm congressional elections. But is their any word in the paper about crucial local elections, including the Bergen County executive and sheriff's races? Editor Francis Scandale is so bored with them.

What on earth is education reporter Leslie Brody doing writing about burglaries in Tenafly, where Publisher Stephen A. Borg lives in a $3.65 million, 8,500-square-foot McMansion? Police report six break-ins and four attempted burglaries in roughly two months likely are related. 

I guess the burglars got uncomfortably close to Borg's Churchill Road home or he recalled the brazen heist of hundreds of thousands of dollars in antique jewelry from his father's East Hill mansion in Englewood. Have you ever seen a story leading the Local section on burglaries in Hackensack, Teaneck or any other town?

More police news

Hackensack reporter Monsy Alvarado breaks her nine-day silence by writing two stories about the Police Department, just about the only city agency she has covered in the past two years. In Teaneck, an Orthodox congregation has come to the rescue of an historic tree on Cedar Lane. Mazel tov. 


There is no Englewood news nor anything on the issues-driven municipal races in Ridgewood and other communities.




Buried on L-3 is a story on Governor Christie's effort to slash and cap the pay of the hundreds of pampered school superintendents in New Jersey. Why isn't this on A-1? Oh, then there would be no room for Chick's drivel.

Sleight of hand

But there's more. Check out the story on the L-8 business page on how The Record has outperformed competing dailies, including The Star-Ledger and the New York papers, with the smallest circulation decline of them all for the six months ended Sept. 30 over the year-earlier period. 


What the story doesn't say is that The Record's circulation figures include the Herald News (total of 137,269 daily and 171,348 Sunday). Borg always manages to leave that out.


Borg is quoted as saying The Record has been able to "maintain its circulation because of its continued dedication to the editorial product." This from the marketing whiz who gave us "The Trusted Local Source" as the paper's motto, replacing, "Friend of The People It Serves."


"Every day, we evaluate the product looking for ways to make it better," Borg said. 

Can't you hear the howls of laughter from readers, who see less and less local, education and food coverage, not more?


Finally, bad headlines continue to confuse. "Day jobs in the way of vote to limit raises" -- the A-1 lead today -- successfully avoids the right word, "conflicts," as in: "Conflicts in the way of vote to limit raises."


On L-1, the headline says, "5 laid-off officers hired to city force after retirements." Hired to? Shouldn't it be "hired by"?