Page 1 mattress ad introduces journalism whores

A welcome vacation from The Record's Road Warrior ended today with the return of Staff Writer John Cichowski, one of the paper's journalism whores, who are desperate to fill their columns with any old nonsense. Today, the so-called commuting columnist reveals the startling news that low gas prices supposedly have people driving more, getting into more crashes and dying more. The column contains no data from New Jersey, and is based on the research of a professor in South Dakota who has never visited the Garden State. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's advertising executives knocked themselves out to make an ad wrapped around today's front page look like real news -- P.C. Richard is adding "mattress galleries" to its stores.

Readers who aren't racing out to the retailer's Wayne store won't find much to read in the Sunday edition besides unusually weak efforts from two of the paper's journalism whores, Columnists John Cichowski and Elisa Ung.

First, I defy anyone to make sense of Staff Writer Lindy Washburn's piece on penalties for people who didn't buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act -- the only story the ad doesn't obscure (A-1).

Or even understand why the story is running now on Page 1, because, as she notes in her fourth paragraph, "how many will pay penalties or be exempted from them, how many will see their tax refunds increased or decreased by ... April 15 remains to be seen."

Under the ad

One you remove the mattress ad, you're confronted with a large photo of the severely injured Daniel Breslin, a Bergen County police officer whose SUV was rear-ended by a drunk driver on April 19, 2014 (A-1).

Staff Writer Stefanie Dazio, a police reporter, doesn't dwell on details of the near-tragic accident nor question why Breslin, in his rush to help a fellow officer, violated common sense and his training by stopping his police vehicle in a travel lane on Route 46 in Lodi.

Kitchen sink

The Road Warrior column roams far and wide today, from the recent terrorism in Paris to 20 years of crash records from Minnesota, Alabama and Mississippi.

But the reporter, Cichowski, apparently was too lazy to gather data from New Jersey (L-1).

Cichowski is one of the paper's journalism whores, climbing into bed with any so-called expert, including a professor from China who has never observed drivers in the Garden State, but who is the focus of today's ridiculous column.

Did Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza act as Cichowski's pimp today or was it another one of the local editors?

Bottom feeding

The Corner Table column from Ung reports on vegetarian food at two crappy fast-food restaurants, White Castle and Burger King, and at Chipotle, which offers naturally raised poultry and organic items (BL-1).

But her column is silent on vegetarian fare at two upscale burger places, Zinburger and Shake Shack.

In her restaurant reviews and columns, Ung often climbs into bed with the wealthy owners who advertise in The Record.

Turkish at home?

I guess there is nothing wrong with filling nearly half of her Travel section with a Detroit Free Press report on "a foodie tour" of Turkey.

But for those who have no plans to go there, couldn't Editor Jill Schensul make an effort to list some of the many Turkish restaurants in North Jersey?