Screwing readers -- again

Image via Wikipedia

Desperate editors of The Record of Woodland Park were in luck yesterday, when Fire Departments in Hackensack, Teaneck and Englewood responded to the same house fire. That allows them to point to a photo on L-3 today as evidence the former Haclensack daily covers its core Bergen towns.


Of course, the truth is the editors have screwed readers in those communities once again -- with the tacit approval of Publisher Stephen A. Borg. 

Oh. I forgot to give the editors credit for two-day-old news: a bee swarm at Main and Anderson streets in Hackenaack. And, of course, the Hackensack reporter has written yet another story about suspended Police Chief Ken Zisa, this one about his cashing in unused sick days. 


But, hey, Deirdre Sykes, you're the head assignment editor directing this crappy coverage, so shouldn't Staff Writer Monsy Alvarado be telling readers whether Zisa will need that $53,000 for legal fees -- or will city taxpayers be the ones stuck with his legal bills? Or, maybe, she can report on details of the proposed city budget and tax hike before they are approved by the City Council.


Page 1 today -- for the second day in a row -- is covered by the continuing youth baseball series and by far more information about two would-be terrorists from North Jersey than most readers are looking for. 

Why does The Record and the rest of the media write so much about these terror suspects, especially when compared to how much they write about the Americans they kill? And why isn't there any background on how the 9/11 suicide bombers lived in Paterson?

One of the biggest stories of the day-- teachers getting a reprieve from Governor Christie's proposed pension and benefit changes -- is given little front-page space. No op-ed page appears today.

In Better Living, food coverage is limited to the stripped down 15-Minute Chef, with a recipe for tilapia. When there is so much wild fish available in North Jersey, why does Food Editor Bill Pitcher promote a farmed variety that is likely to contain antibiotics and other harmful additives? 

(Photo: Hackensack River, seen from Teaneck.)

A little Hackensack news -- finally

Cover of The 15-Minute Chef

Staff Writer Monsy Alvarado has finally reported and written some non-Police Department news from Hackensack. Today's L-3 story on 19 teachers and 34 para-professionals facing layoffs is the first education story about the city where The Record was founded since Dec. 14 -- if you don't count the routine school elections coverage in April.


Readers in Teaneck and Englewood go begging for yet another day.


Below Alvarado's story in Local is one from Wyckoff by Staff Writer Shawn Boburg, another member of head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' investigative team. With Sykes' blessings, the core members -- Alvarado, Boburg and Staff Writer Jean Rimbach -- have wasted years and hundreds of thousands in staff salaries with little to show for it.


In recent years, Rimbach has had the fewest bylines of any other staffer, although she is likely one of the highest paid reporters in the Woodland Park newsroom. The key is her close relationship with Sykes -- which I observed personally.


When I was still a news copy editor at The Record, I edited a three-part series Rimbach and another reporter had worked on for six months, and it was filled with holes and other problems. When I asked Sykes about these flaws, her answers invariably were: "We're not going to go there" or "We didn't get that."


Maybe Boburg should find out why Wyckoff refuses to release restaurant inspections to The Record, which publishes the ratings on Fridays in Better Living. Food Editor Bill Pitcher seems not to have noticed that the Wyckoff inspections are always missing.


Pitcher, who is paid $70,000-plus a year, had a hard day Monday, as today's food coverage shows. The 15 Minute Chef now runs on Tuesdays without a big color photo -- pushed to the margin of F-2 by shopping news. Is that even his recipe or did he conveniently leave off the credit? 

The paper should sponsor a contest to see which reader can actually prepare this meal in 15 minutes. The prize: An extension of his/her subscription.

(Photo: The book by the original 15-Minute Chef, Patricia Mack, onetime food editor of The Record.)