Image via WikipediaA baby girl from Union City is killed by a tree branch in Manhattan. How tragic. Gee-whiz. Why can't someone do something about killer trees? And why is this on Page 1 of The Record of Woodland Park, which no longer covers Union City -- not to mention its drought on news of Hackensack, Englewood and Teaneck? Is there no other Bergen or Passaic, state or national story worthy of A-1 play?
The continuing saga of beach access on the Jersey Shore should be on the front page today, but isn't. Doesn't Editor Frank "Castrato" Scandale have a shore home? Doesn't Scandale see the importance of beach access to readers or couldn't he care less about other people's problems? The Borgs probably summer in the Hamptons. And the features editor gives better coverage to MTV's "Jersey Shore."
If readers have problems with NJ Transit buses or trains, who do they turn to? Certainly not Road Warrior John Cichowski, one of the hand-picked reporter chicks hatched by head Assignment Editor Deirdre "Mother Hen" Sykes, who has been known to suffocate her newsroom offspring. Today, he has another in an endless series of MVC columns on the front of Local as he continues to pander to drivers over mass transit users. Cichowski needs a refresher course in what it means to be a journalist who covers commuting.
Looking for Hackensack news? Go awaken Hackensack reporter Monsy Alvarado, another reporter chick, who is asleep on the doorstep of Police Chief Ken Zisa -- whose legal troubles are just about the only thing she has written about in more than a year. Who is that sleeping next to her? Englewood reporter Giovanna Fabiano? Teaneck reporter Joseph Ax? Staff Writers Shawn Boburg and Jean "One-Byline-A-Year" Rimbach? All seem to take their cues from Sykes.
Looking for a unique take on the news from Columnist Mike Kelly on the front of Opinion? Forget about it. Looking for food coverage in Sunday's Better Living? Fruit is mentioned in the clunky opening paragraphs of a doctor's profile. Looking for help with arcane airline fare rules? You won't get it from Travel Editor Jill Schensul, who travels for free. Today, she publishes a throwaway 24-page tab filled with readers' photos. How useful.
For decades, readers have looked in vain to The Record's editors and owners to expose the economic folly of home rule and the pettiness of all of the overpaid officials who set our property taxes. The editors prefer to report on the consequences of home rule, such as parents having to pay for high school athletics (A-1), but they've been so reluctant to put the full might of the paper behind reform of the system.
So, it takes a professor's Opinion front proposal for a consolidated entity he calls Bergen City to strike a chord with readers, whose letters of praise appear on L-3 today.
Under Scandale and Sykes, the former Hackensack daily has neglected local news more and more. Instead, these editors have targeted the "high" salaries of police, firefighters and teachers as the main reason our taxes are so high, but have rarely questioned the need for 70 police chiefs and nearly as many superintendents in Bergen County. (Several years ago, a story on the outrageous perks enjoyed by North Jersey school superintendents was supplied by The Associated Press -- based on a state report -- making the local staff look like a bunch of lazy fools.)
Now, the editors have gained a powerful ally in Governor Christie, who has been a relentless critic of teachers and state workers unions. And Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin has been doing wonderful P.R. for Christie, while giving him a pass on the millionaires tax and not raising the low gasoline tax.
The overpaid editors seem to see the state budget crisis from the perspective of the wealthy Borgs and their powerful North Jersey Media Group. Keep the focus on taking more away from the middle and working classes, from poor schoolchildren and the disabled, from seniors and other vulnerable segments of society -- so the wealthy Borgs can continue to live in the lap of luxury, putting themselves first ahead of readers and their own employees.
"I'm not in this for the money," Publisher Stephen A. Borg told the assembled staff in Hackensack in mid-2006, showing them a slide of his nearly $2 million Tenafly home, which he would trade in 2007 for a $3.65 million McMansion bought with a company mortgage. Bizarre. I couldn't make this up. Sadly, the joke was on me and the other employees.
(Photo: Decades-old NJ Transit local bus)
Any thoughts on the Englewood Carribbean parade article?
ReplyDeleteI was surprised at the low turnout. I've attended the event when it was far more crowded. The Record covers it every year, but ignores the community the rest of the time. It's the perfect Record story: no heavy lifting, everyone in the same place, a few quotes, a photo and you're off to the races. Unfortunately, it is superficial.
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