Since 2010, Christie has staged events for gullible media

Work has begun in earnest on a large parcel of land bordering Lemoine Avenue in Fort Lee opposite the first of two 47-story towers in the Hudson Lights residential-retail project, below. Critics say when completed, the project will generate traffic resembling the politically inspired gridlock during the George Washington Bridge lane closures last September.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Remember Governor Christie's "Reform Agenda"? His "Jersey Comeback" and "Stronger Than the Storm"?

Remember how a gullible media and apathetic voters swallowed whole all of the events the GOP bully started staging as soon as he took office in January 2010?

Well, having lied his way out of the George Washington Bridge scandal, Christie is once again cranking up his "running for president in 2016" P.R. machine, and he has The Record's editors and reporters right by his side (A-1).

More no comment

Today's Page 1 story on a staged, second groundbreaking in Wayne and another manufactured event in Camden is hardly news, so why is it on the front page?

It certainly doesn't come off as an expose, and no reporter attempted to ask Christie why he is trying so hard to burnish his image. (A-1).

Indeed, with a June 30 deadline looming, why isn't a state budget story on The Record's front page today and every day?

From bad to worse

If you think the political paralysis in Washington is bad now, imagine what it will be like if Tea Party crackpot David Brat actually gets elected after his GOP primary victory over Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia (A-1).

The Record and other media love this kind of story, because it helps them avoid covering issues and what is good for the country -- that's too much heavy lifting for the mental lightweights in the Woodland Park newsroom.

Editorial laziness

It's amazing how Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin can deplore the drive-by shootings and other gun violence in Paterson without a single reference to the effectiveness of the police chief, Christie-inspired state aid cuts and layoffs in the Police Department (A-8).

There would be hardly any news in Local today if it wasn't for police, court and related news (L-1, L-2, L-3 and L-6). 

It's Wednesday -- hump day for six-figure head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her assistant, Dan Sforza, who was promoted to sit next to Sykes' throne despite a mediocre reporting career.

I am sure they are already looking forward to the weekend, and having more crime, court, accident, utility pole and fire news to fill their pages.

Safety lesson?

The Local front story on the Sept. 7, 2012, death of Matthew Killen on a highway shoulder focuses on keeping his memory alive, but never explains why no charges were filed against the tractor-trailer driver who struck and dragged him to his death (L-1).

Did Killen contribute to his death by "standing by his disabled Hyundai," as the story reports (L-6)?

Could he -- and others in similar circumstances -- safeguard themselves, and if so, how would they do that? 

For some reason, this kind of safety information rarely appears when newspapers report traffic deaths at the time they occur or in obituaries.

Road Warrior errors

Staff Writer John Cichowski could provide such safety information in his Road Warrior column, but he has proven so unreliable on almost any subject, he'd probably screw that up, too.

According to the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers, Cichowski's Friday column "continued to provide worthless, made-up, and mistaken information about New Jersey teen driving safety, fatalities, and Graduated Driver License restrictions."

"The Road Warrior even provided the wrong telephone contact information for the New Jersey Teen Safe Driving Coalition. 

"The Record's editors and the Road Warrior never corrected this contact information, even though the head of the coalition pointed out the mistake and provided them with the correct contact number."

See:

Road Warrior wages war on truth