Error-prone, police-loving local news section limps along

The City Council meeting scheduled for tonight was held on Monday night, according to the city's Web site. On Friday, an appeals court overturned former Police Chief Ken Zisa's 2012 official-misconduct conviction, and freed him from house arrest and a pending 5-year prison sentence.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Three more corrections appear on Page A-2 of The Record today, further evidence of the breakdown of editing and fact checking at the Woodland Park daily.

On Monday's Page 1, a local reporter assigned to cover the Haskell Invitational misstated the amount of money won by American Pharoah.

He was off by $600,000.

Another local reporter misstated how Oradell's Fire Department will spend a $160,000 federal grant.

And a sports reporter committed the biggest sin of all, misspelling the last name of Wallington-Carlstadt Little League softball pitcher Abigail Tabaka.

Local news?

Meanwhile, local assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza used seven Law & Order stories as filler in today's section (L-2, L-3 and L-6).

Sykes and Sforza endeavor to stay on good terms with all of the police departments in North Jersey to ensure the flow of the Law & Order copy they rely on every day.

On L-1, Road Warrior John Cichowski focuses on a single railroad crossing the vast majority of readers will never use -- rather than report on the overall health of mass transit or the condition of local roads.

Carbon emissions

Congratulations to environmental reporter James M. O'Neill for his front-page story on President Obama's proposal to dramatically cut carbon emissions, including a strong New Jersey focus (A-1).

The day before, Editor Martin Gottlieb ran an Associated Press story on Page 1 that politicized the issue by pitting Democrats against Republicans.

In his second paragraph, O'Neill reports:

"The plan is the first large-scale attempt by the United States to try and slow the release of greenhouse gases tied to climate change ...." (A-1).

Governor Christie's opposition to the plan appears on the continuation page, as well as quotes from New Jersey environmental official on how well the state is doing on cutting emissions from power plants.

And PSEG, whose subsidiary runs large power plants in New Jersey, backs the Obama administration's goals.

This is the kind of balance reporting that has been missing from The Record, especially when it comes to Christie and the terrible job he has done since he took office in early 2010.

In Christie's New Jersey, even a racehorse restores pride

For drivers, it's a rough ride on River Street in Hackensack and scores of other streets in North Jersey that have been patched after extensive utility work or simply neglected, sometimes for a decade or more. Still, we pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The front page of The Record today gives you some idea of how depressed New Jerseyans are in the fifth year of Governor Christie's reign.

When a woman gushes over winning $16 and a racehorse is said to restore pride in the Garden State, you definitely know we are mired in deep doo-doo (A-1).

Staff Writer Christopher Maag reinforces the point in his sixth paragraph, noting "the sitting governor" was "booed loudly" by his constituents "as he stood in the winner's circle."

So, the record crowd at Monmouth Park in Oceanport booed Christie, the horse's ass, and cheered the racehorse, Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.

Climate change

Another story on Page 1 today describe how Christie sides with industry, not the environment, when it comes to making public information on potentially dangerous oil trains passing through Bergen County (A-1).

And thanks to Christie, New Jersey likely will be one of the Republican-led states that oppose President Obama's initiative to cut greenhouse gases and fight climate change (A-1).

As the media have done with every issue since the president took office, climate change is politicized and presented in terms of Democrats v. Republicans, and not what's good for the country and the environment.

However, the sub-headline on the Obama story goes too far:

Power plants
and states to
fight Obama

Of course, as the first paragraph of The Associated Press story clearly states, opposition is expected from "Republican-led states," not all states (A-1).

Muslim pride

Also today, The Record continues its campaign to humanize Muslim-Americans with a story on Abrar Shahin, "the fashionable hijab-wearing Muslim teenager" from Clifton "who has become a global sensation" (A-1).

Local news?

On the Local front, a story on a final link in the Secaucus Greenway includes a Meadowlands map with few labels, so readers have to scour the story for clues on where they can find the start of the public footpath (L-1).

The story leading the Local section never explains why the four Di Cosmo brothers are selling "their local watering hole," The Front Porch, after 34 years (L-1).

Editors reward Jon Stewart for keeping his hands off press

This sign might give you hope, if you have a medical emergency while driving on Route 4 east in Paramus, but the urgent-care center itself isn't close to opening, below. Why would Paramus officials approve the sign weeks before the building is ready?

On Friday, you could still see the original entrance and exterior paint of the shuttered Dos Cubanos, a Cuban restaurant, which is being renovated for the CITYMD urgent-care center, part of a Manhattan-based chain. When the center finally opens, how many patients will be rushing over after an artery clogging meal at the fried-chicken restaurant next door?

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

You'll have to read between the lines of Virginia Rohan's front page tribute to Jon Stewart to realize his greatest failure is never lampooning newspapers -- large ones like The New York Times and small ones like The Record.

Martin Gottlieb, editor of The Record, is a veteran of The Times, and both newspapers have revealed deep flaws -- from scandals over fabricated quotes to lazy, irresponsible local editors who wink at official misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance.

Stewart, the stand-up comedian and actor, never even bothered looking across the Hudson at the state of print journalism in his native New Jersey.

No. For "The Daily Show" targets, all you have to do in look at the continuation page, which is peppered with familiar TV news acronyms: CNN, MSNBC and CNBC, as well as the infamously slanted Fox News (A-8).

A-1 photos

Poor Virginia Rohan, The Record's veteran TV writer, who gave us the Stewart appraisal. 

Isn't Production Editor Liz Houlton discriminating against her by running a contemporary thumbnail photo of Rohan (A-1) while using dated photos of Columnists Mike Kelly (O-1) and John Cichowski (L-1)?

Talking about front-page photos, check out the racy image of Emilee Carton, manager of the Lilly Pulitzer store in Hackensack, whose cleavage-baring low neckline is upstaging the racehorse behind her (A-1).

On the Web site of the store in The Shops at Riverside, Lilly Pulitzer is billed as "the unofficial uniform of the affluent at play."

That's appropriate considering the wealthy Borg family own the Woodland Park daily and (201) magazine, considered by some to be the bible of Bergen County's moneyed elite.

Stretching the definition of transportation, the editors assigned NJ Transit reporter Christopher Maag to cover the race at Monmouth Park, and he tries mightily to polish all of those horse turds (A-1, A-8). 

Zisa and Molinelli

Also on Page 1 today, the rare byline of Staff Writer Jean Rimbach appears over an "Analysis" prompted by an appeals court vacating the convictions and prison sentence hanging over the head of former Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa. 

Rimbach claims that and other setbacks constitute "a bad run" for Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli (A-1).

Of course, you won't find any mention of Joseph S. Conte, the Zisa trial judge, who was harshly criticized by the appeals court.

"The judge [Conte] did not forcefully tell the jury that the prosecutor's remarks ... were improper, and he did not unequivocally tell them that the improper information must be disregarded," the ruling stated.

And The Record has never examined Conte's record on the bench -- and how many times he's been reversed by higher courts -- before he retired and joined a Hackensack law firm.

Local news?

There isn't much to read today in the local-news section, ostensibly edited by Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, unless you're a dog owner (L-1).

Nothing is changing with New Jersey's full-service gas stations, so why is the Road Warrior wasting our time with a long column on self-serve pumps (L-1)? 

Finally, an opinion

Mike Kelly finally manages to offer an opinion about something, the cancelled Hudson River tunnels project (O-1).

"This year, we have seen in graphic detail what happens when elected officials do not take care of important pieces of our transportation infrastructure" (O-1).

How's that for hard-hitting local journalism from the columnist with the shit-eating grin thumbnail photo?

Oh, by the way, "Hudson River tunnel," which appears in his first paragraph, is incorrect. Two tunnels were under construction.

On O-2, the Margulies cartoon about Governor Christie is a stretch.

But Opinion columnist Brigid Harrison, a professor, places the blame squarely on Christie for why a poll found our satisfaction with life in the Garden State hit a 35-year low.

Lions or humans?

On Friday's A-1 and A-4, The Record inadvertently published a condemnation of the media for their propensity to ignore human misery.

"It's so cruel," a woman in Harare, Zimbabwe, told The Associated Press, referring to the slaying of Cecil, a protected lion.

"But I don't understand the whole fuss, there are so many pressing issues in Zimbabwe -- we have water shortages, no electricity, no jobs -- yet people are making noise about a lion?"

You'd hear the same complaint from residents of Paterson, who live in fear of a drive-by shooting taking the life of another innocent victim, but who are saddled with a police director who has failed to attack the city's gun problem.

Yet, instead of questioning why Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale shouldn't be replaced, The Record spends more time reporting on his lawsuit against the Port Authority, where he once worked, and his problems clearing security at airports.

New Orleans

It's sad to see that Travel Editor Jill Schensul waited nearly 10 years after the devastation of Katrina to declare that New Orleans "is back" and "better than ever" (T-1 today and last Sunday).

That's the danger when journalists go on press trips arranged by hotel owners, chambers of commerce and mayors.

She could have visited New Orleans in 2010, and written about the renewal up to that point, helping to steer tourists to one of America's most distinctive cities.

I saw much of what she described this month on a visit in the summer of 2009, including jazz clubs along Frenchmen Street, restoration of the St. Charles Streetcar line and a French Quarter that was as vibrant as ever.

Zisa nearly broke Hackensack; now, he claims he's broke

Charles "Ken" Zisa was the police chief in Hackensack from 1995 until he was suspended without pay in 2010, pending his trial. He also served as a state assemblyman.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Long-suffering Hackensack residents have little to salvage from the stunning appeals court decision freeing former Police Chief Ken Zisa from house arrest and a pending 5-year prison sentence. 

But the smug look on his face in a photo on The Record's front page today likely will generate more anger and resentment toward a family dynasty that transformed the city into a North Jersey laughing stock called "Zisaville" (A-1).

Isn't it rich?

After Zisa was indicted in 2010, he was suspended without pay, and about two dozen Hackensack police officers sued him and the city, alleging corruption and intimidation (A-6).

"Most of the lawsuits stemmed from a bitterly contentious relationship between Zisa and police officers who accused him of engaging in campaigns of retribution and harassment as paybacks for their refusal to go along with his political demands [as a state assemblyman]," The Record reports.

(Sounds a little like the political retribution Governor Christie visited on the mayor of Fort Lee and other Democrats for not supporting his election to a second term.)

The city resolved the last of the Zisa lawsuits in April 2014, racking up more than $8 million in legal fees.

That doesn't include the cost to the city and insurer of settling the cases. 

Zisa was formally fired after a jury found him guilty in late 2012 of official misconduct and insurance fraud, the convictions that were thrown out on Friday.

Broken city

Also on Friday, defense attorneys got the $50,000 bail released, claiming Zisa hasn't been able to work, and "needed the money to buy food and pay his mortgage and other living expenses" (A-1).

Unmentioned are the high legal fees Zisa faces for his trial, appeal and possible retrial.

But taxpayers also have been stunned by the financial impact of the litigious Zisa years, and now they face the possibility the former police chief will prevail at a retrial, and demand back pay totaling about $1 million.

That's the million-dollar question, not, as Columnist Mike Kelly asks, whether Zisa "deserves to return" as police chief, a position the city abolished (A-1).

Zisa was paid about $193,000 a year as police chief.

Lazy reporting

The burned-out Kelly and his assignment editor are so lazy they didn't bother interviewing any ordinary Hackensack residents about the appeals court unexpectedly throwing out the guilty verdicts.

Instead, Kelly quotes the same Zisa allies and critics he has had on speed dial for years, including Richard Salkin, the Board of Education attorney who is described as a close friend and vocal supporter of Zisa.

Salkin served as city attorney and municipal prosecutor, but lost the latter position in 2013, after voters picked a reform slate for City Council over Zisa family allies.

Since then, Salkin and school board members who ran unsuccessfully for council have appeared at nearly every council meeting with a massive case of sour grapes to criticize the reformers. 

Meanwhile, Salkin hasn't responded to charges that in 2014, he over-billed the school board by about $58,000 for legal services.

Nor does Kelly mention that in his column today (A-1 and A-6).

If Kelly bothered to ask city residents, I'm sure a majority would say Zisa has no legitimate claim on running a Police Department he nearly destroyed.

Court criticism

The Record's Zisa coverage today reports the three-judge appellate panel harshly criticized the conduct of the trial prosecutor, Daniel Kietel, and the trial judge, Joseph S. Conte, who left Superior Court to join a Hackensack law firm, Nowell Amoroso Klein Bierman.

The appeals court said:

"The trial was 'tainted from the outset,'" when the assistant prosecutor improperly said in his opening statement to the jury that "Zisa's family was like royalty who thought they were above the law, but they were not" (A-6).

The appeals court said Zisa "was not on trial for being politically connected and his family was not on trial."

Meanwhile, "the judge did not forcefully tell the jury that the prosecutor's remarks as to those matters were improper, and he did not unequivocally tell them that the improper information must be disregarded," the ruling stated.

See the ruling:

State of New Jersey v. Charles K. Zisa

Zisa at crash

But the appeals court ruling didn't resolve the insurance fraud charge, which could be retried.

That comes down to whether Zisa acted improperly after his girlfriend allegedly was driving while intoxicated when she crashed his SUV into a telephone pole on Feb. 11, 2008.

She called Zisa, who went to the scene, put her into his car and drove her away from the accident.

Conte, the trial judge, "concluded the defendant's actions [Zisa] were unauthorized regardless of whether K.T. [the girlfriend] was intoxicated, because he interfered with the on-scene officers' investigation of the accident," the appeals panel wrote.

"The judge also found that defendant used his position as police chief to enable to remove K.T. from the scene," according to the ruling.

DWI involved?

On an insurance questionnaire, Zisa and his girlfriend said a cat ran in front of the vehicle and she "swerved to the right [and] hit a telephone pole," the appellate judges noted.

They also checked a box "No" to the question, "Was there any evidence of intoxication?"

The insurance company paid the claim, issuing checks totaling $11,391.88, the court said.