Our local newspaper is flying off the rails

Teaneck calls this patch of grass next to Route 4 a "park." Walkers and runners are advised to use gas masks.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Today's front page is filled with stories only Editor Marty Gottlieb of The Record, his sub-editors and his reporters care about.

Residents of North Jersey and, especially, of Bergen County are trying to stifle yawns as they rifle through today's edition for anything relevant to their lives.

On A-2, two more corrections appear, but for every two corrections, 10 errors go uncorrected by head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes, Production Editor Liz Houlton and her absentee copy editors.

Open questions

The story (A-3) and editorial (A-10) on the failed open-space referendum didn't answer obvious questions:

Does Governor Christie support dedicated funding to preserve land and buy flood-prone properties, and did he, in fact, call Republicans and ask them to vote down the bill?

Aching teeth

The simple-minded media's continued reference to "sugary drinks" confuses the public and even some journalists about New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's campaign against soda with super-sweet, high-fructose corn syrup, a trigger in the obesity epidemic (A-4).

Christie isn't the only one who disdains mass transit, as shown by another Road Warrior column on handicapped parking (L-1).

Given how many errors and omissions appear in Staff Writer John Cichowski's work, can anything he says today be trusted?

Bored editors

Sykes leads her Local section with a story on the "media throng" at the initial federal-court appearance of those cafones, Teresa and Joe Giudice, who face a 39-fraud indictment (L-1).

The TV bimbos also are featured in the biggest element on Page 1 today -- as readers wonder how they can indict Gottlieb, Sykes and other bored local editors on fraud charges.

After running a local obituary on L-1 on Tuesday, Sykes buries two more among the death notices today (L-6).

Better than butter

After a series of meat- and fat-heavy recipes from Upper Saddle River food blogger Kate Morgan Jackson, Better Living today runs one for SUMMER VEGETABLE RIBBONS (BL-1).

If you know what's good for you, substitute extra-virgin olive oil for the 2 tablespoons of artery clogging butter she recommends (BL-2).