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| One day, Editor Francis Scandale sent word to the news copy desk not to to use the words Pulaski Skyway on Page 1 because readers had never heard of it and he had never used it. |
Today is the first anniversary of Eye on The Record, which has survived lawsuit threats from North Jersey Media Group, scammers hacking into my e-mail account and the outrage of the newspaper's current and former staffers that anyone would cast a critical eye on what they are doing or not doing -- and then tell the world about it.
In the early weeks, these staffers demanded that I recognize the good job some were doing, but I didn't see that as my role then and I don't see it as my role now. Besides, there is so much bad writing and editing, so many poor headlines and so much irresponsible journalism in the paper day after day, there isn't room for anything else but criticism.
What is happening to the former Hackensack daily is sad. Yet through it all, such incompetent, lazy and desperate editors as Francis Scandale, Deirdre Sykes, Tim Nostrand, Jim McGarvey, Barbara Jaeger, Liz Houlton and their minions have somehow kept their jobs, and in some cases, been promoted.
And the Borg family -- a trio of absentee landlords, the father and his two Tarnished Silver Spoons -- grow fatter, literally or figuratively, as they squander the legacy of family members stretching back a few generations.
The news staff weathered a significant downsizing as well as defections, including the latest, award-winning Staff Writer Liz Llorente, and both the newsroom and local news coverage have become less diverse. Frank Burgos, the former managing editor who was newsroom enforcer, got a taste of his own medicine.
Here are links to earlier posts that have traced the decline of this once-great daily. Don't forget to read the comments at the end of each -- they range from the sublime to the ridiculous -- or add a comment of your own:
Abandoning River City
'I'm not in this for the money'
How an editor can ruin a project
Taking Bergen out of The Bergen Record
Despite recession, younger Borg prospers
Anti-mass transit tirade
Not-so-lovable Hackensack
Were they really a jury of my peers?
The irrepressible Jennifer Borg
Help me with new nicknames
Tom Troncone throws his own going-away party
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