It's time to demand more from the police

This Dunkin' Donuts in Geneva, N.Y., looks exactly like the one on Passaic Street, near the tracks, in Hackensack.

The Record's editors continue to wring their hands over the attempted luring of children, with a Page 1 story today and the lead on Friday's Local news section.

They did the same recently over gun violence in Paterson and a string of burglaries that were getting uncomfortably close to Publisher Stephen A. Borg's $3.65 million mansion in Tenafly.

But none of these stories discussed the effectiveness of the police. 

Are the cops -- especially all those small-town police chiefs -- letting us down?

These chiefs often make north of $200,000 a year. What do they do besides draw up the schedule of runs to Dunkin' Donuts?

Christie loves donuts, chiefs

The Record has praised Governor Christie for capping the salaries of school superintendents, but no editor has questioned why he didn't do the same with police chiefs, including nearly 70 in Bergen County alone.

The reason for the editorial free ride may lie in the incompetence of head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her minions, including Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza.

Sykes and Sforza have ordered their reporters to stake out police departments and prosecutor's offices, waiting for press releases.

In small departments, the chief often is the only one who gives out information on crime.

A newsroom so dependent on handouts can't afford to come down hard on the police for not doing their job protecting residents.

New news reality

In the Page 1 story today, luring cases are called "part of [the] new reality."

The same can be said of declining municipal news coverage in The Record, which is relying more and more on covering crime and less and less on what the police and town officials are or are not doing.

Today's Local front carries a story on Englewood merchants complaining about gas-line work disrupting their business (L-1) -- the third story about that city this week.

Where are similar stories about Hackensack's downtown and finances?

Missing the story

Today's Englewood story carries a clunky headline, attributing complaints to inanimate "stores." This would have fit:

Merchants bitch

about utility work

The story also ignores Englewood's longtime reputation for horrendous downtown traffic congestion, aggravated by the Police Department's refusal to carve out turn lanes on Dean Street at Palisade Avenue.

Installing turn lanes there would lead to the removal of several parking meters, but Englewood's well-known financial problems prevent that.

Wealthy wage war

Today's major Page 1 story -- "Leading the money race" -- puts to rest any doubt that wealthy Republicans, including donors to Christie and Mitt Romney, are waging a war against the rest of us, especially the middle class.

The nation's economy is struggling, as President Obama has stated so persuasively, because of the unbridled greed of the wealthy, who would rather keep more of their profits and spend much less on creating jobs and paying benefits.

Christie and jobless

Is it any wonder New Jersey's jobless rate remained above 9 percent for the 40th consecutive month (A-1 and A-18 on Friday), while the Christies made about $118,000 more in 2011 than the year before (A-3 on Friday)?

Or that Romney -- who makes $20 million a year from investments -- is promising to cut taxes on capital gains and other investment income for wealthy people like himself?

Flawed food writing

Bob Probert is one of (201) magazine's uninformed food writers whose work has appeared in The Record in recent months.

In today's Starters piece on a Lebanese restaurant called La'Mezza (BL-1), he says incorrectly a complimentary starter includes "baked pita chips called zaatar."

Za'atar is a Middle Eastern thyme mixture that can be served on fresh or baked bread or sprinkled on tomatoes, eggs, roast chicken and other food.

No admittance to 'rowdy'

In Friday's Better Living tabloid, Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung wasted a quarter of her 3-star appraisal of Zana D discussing the owner's career and changes in the decor of the restaurant he bought.

So there wasn't any room to tell readers whether free-range chicken, antibiotic-free meat or low-mercury fish is served by the pricey Tenafly dining spot (BL-18 and 19).

Does a restaurant that apparently cuts corners on naturally raised or grown food even deserve an "Excellent" rating?


However, the clueless Ung made sure to advise readers the restaurant is "less appropriate for" a "rowdy gathering, particularly of younger people, who may feel out of place in the older crowd" (data box, BL-18).

You could describe the majority of readers as an "older crowd." Isn't that discriminatory?

Is advice on what a fine-dining restaurant "would be good for" or "less appropriate for" even necessary? 

Use the room to tell restaurant goers what really matters: Is the food free of such harmful additives as growth hormones and animal by-products?

Lazy editors rely on every cliche

super bowl (Photo credit: sinosplice)
Super Bowl.

"The making of a perfect storm." "Sudsy stuff." "Super Sundays." "Reported in this space."


You'll find these cliches on Page 1 of The Record today as the paper continues its mindless coverage of that alcohol-soaked ritual known as the Super Bowl.


It probably should be called the "Super Toilet Bowl" for all the over-eating and over-drinking that will force many fans to throw up in the bathroom.


Following up on a Page 1 news story on Thursday, Road Warrior Columnist John Cichowski puts his own stale spin on the state police's beefed-up patrols to catch drunk fans after Sunday's game.


'Perfect storm'


"A perfect storm" appears in his lead paragraph today. The third paragraph includes a reference to beer as "the sudsy stuff." You get the idea. 


None of the lazy editors bother to edit the word-challenged Cichowski, who is valued for his ability to fill space three times a week -- no matter what he writes or how often he goes over the same ground.


Readers can only wonder what Editor Martin Gottlieb thinks of writing and editing like this after all the years he spent at The New York Times. Gottlieb is winding up his second week at the Woodland Park daily.


More cliches


The Record already is previewing New Jersey's Super Bowl two long years from now, with another cliche-ridden account from Staff Writer John Brennan, who is in Indianapolis (A-8).


His lead paragraph tells readers "the Meadowlands host committee already has a mountain of details to master and some lofty goals to attain." He later refers to Pepsi and the Reagan White House as "well-established operations."


Even the headline on Brennan's story is a cliche: "N.J. planners learning ropes."


A story on A-3 today again shows Governor Christie has been unable to tame the free-spending Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which acts as a  shadow government.


Of course, the GOP bully has been too busy flying all over the country, answering questions about his presidential ambitions and campaigning for Mitt Romney, a fellow millionaire (A-4).


Trumping Trump


Cartoonist Margulies is at his best today, lampooning Donald Trump's endorsement of Romney, the front-runner (A-22).


And an editorial on the same page notes that besides the huge cost overruns and delays in the construction of the new World Trade Center, the Port Authority missed a huge design flaw that will waste even more money.


On the front of head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local section, there is yet another story about increased patrols for Super Bowl drunks. (L-1).


Two cars stolen


I couldn't find any Hackensack news in Sykes' section, though she found room for a 9-inch story on the theft of two cars in Saddle River (L-3).


As they have done on so many days in the past, Sykes and her minions rely on Law & Order news to fill columns that once were filled with municipal news. 


Two hogs feed 


Reviews of 5 Seasons Bistro in Ridgewood appear today in The Record and in this month's (201) magazine, pet publication of Publisher Stephen A. Borg, but when you compare them, you might think the food writers went to two different restaurants.


In (201), reviewer Bob Probert had not one word of criticism. He wrote that "business at this 82-seat venue has already begun to increase dramatically." 


The magazine doesn't rate restaurants with stars or anything else.


The Record's Elisa Ung, on the other hand, had many complaints and gave the pricey BYO only 2 and a half stars (Good to Excellent).


Ung calls the space "one of the most awkward restaurant spots I've ever dined in." 


"Just three other tables were occupied, and at times, an awkward silence hovered over the dining room," she wrote in today's Better Living centerfold.


She praises unusual ingredients, but says entree prices north of $30 aren't justified by the unpleasant atmosphere and cooking or service flaws. 


Ung also complains about the "aggressive spiciness" of Salmon and Halibut Crusted in White Harissa ($32), apparently unaware that "harissa" is a hot pepper paste used in North African cooking.


But Ung couldn't say enough good things about the three desserts she sampled, calling them "astonishingly good."  

Does 'reform' get any more confusing?

Image via Wikipedia

Coat of Arms of Jamaica.

The assignment editors at The Record have Staff Writer Juliet Fletcher tackling another Page 1 process story about changes in health-care coverage for public workers, leaving readers more confused than ever.

This is her fourth story this month on changes in health or pension benefits, which Editor Francis Scandale calls "reform," as he's been asked to do by Governor Christie's spin doctors.


Fletcher reports that next year's savings are projected to reach nearly $100 million, thanks to changes in federal law. Until now, she has cited this year's savings from changes in state law, putting them at $10 million.


More on Turkey


For the second day in a row, Scandale devotes most of the front page to the earthquake in Turkey, but today's local reaction story and map are far out of proportion to the death toll (A-1 and A-4).


Coverage of local Turks just reminds readers of how Scandale and head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes have routinely ignored North Jersey's Jamaican-American community, which is far larger than the newer immigrant group.


The Record and NorthJersey.com even failed to report an historic change of government on the island, according to an Associated Press story on Salon.com:

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Youthful lawmaker Andrew Holness was sworn in Sunday as Jamaica’s new prime minister, ushering in a government he said would heal political divisions, root out corruption, reduce debt and bureaucracy, and attract foreign investment to reduce poverty. 

Scandale, Sykes and their clueless minions can't get more out of touch with local residents than that. 


Page 1 typo


And Liz Houlton's crack news copy desk can't get any sloppier than missing a typo in the first word of the third front-page story today: "A environmental group...."


Why isn't the Obama administration's latest effort to curb home foreclosures on Page 1 today? Check L-7.


Locals yokels


The contempt for local readers continues in Sykes' Local section, which is missing municipal news from Hackensack, Teaneck and many other towns for yet another day.


For some reason, Teaneck reporter Andrea Alexander covered a Monday night meeting on city finances in Englewood. A house-fire photo was needed as filler on the same page, L-3.


For high rollers


In Better Living, free-lancer Bob Probert showers superlatives on Sear -- a new steakhouse in Closter with dinner entrees costing up to $60 -- but there's not a word on whether this pricey beef  is raised on harmful antibiotics and  growth hormones, and feed containing bits of dead animals (Starters, F-1).


Has Probert been told to confine his coverage to restaurants favored by multimillionaire Publisher Stephen A. "Beefeater" Borg? Where are stories about new restaurants with prices more suited to today's challenging economic climate?


Related articles

• Christie laughs off fat jokes (eyeontherecord.blogspot.com)
• Guess how much Christie weighs (eyeontherecord.blogspot.com)
• Andrew Holness sworn in as Jamaica's prime minister (guardian.co.uk)

Editor lives to sell newspapers

Image via Wikipedia

Should a local newspaper put the Steve Jobs obit on Page 1?

What kind of news world does Editor Francis Scandale of the Record inhabit?


Scandale is not accountable to the public or his absentee publisher, so he's accustomed to doing what he wants with Page 1.


His only problems are his famously flawed news judgment and wrestling stories away from Deirdre Sykes, the immovable head assignment editor and real power in the Woodland Park newsroom.


The murder of a 23-year-old Teaneck woman wasn't front-page news on Wednesday, but the arrest of her husband leads the paper today. Why? To sell newspapers?


Then, Scandale demotes to the bottom of the page an engaging story about more aggressive forms of cancer in African-American women than in white women. That would have made a great A-1 patch.


Here's Job 1


A-1 is dominated today by the obituary of Steve Jobs, 56, a founder of Apple Inc., but why does Scandale put his death from cancer out front while uniformly banishing obituaries of prominent local residents to inside Local? 


Unfortunately, Jobs and other tech wizards have paid little attention to how their computers and smart phones continue to confound people 50 years old and older. 


So, it's no surprise Scandale makes such a big deal of his death. 


The editor has always ignored older newsroom workers, and apparently made no objection when Publisher Stephen A. Borg culled them as if they were chickens on the way to the slaughterhouse. 


No gold standard


One of those given the heave-ho was Nancy Cherry, co-slot or co-supervisor of the news copy desk, now in the incompetent hands of Editor Liz Houlton.


When Nancy left, no one bothered to enforce her strict standards of good writing and accuracy in text, photo captions and headlines.


So, today and nearly every day, the news copy desk runs wild, as in the A-1 headline for the Jobs story.


The co-founder of Apple Inc. becomes the "founder" in the four-deck headline. Two headline no-nos are ending a line with "was" or "of" -- both are violated here. 


Another inaccurate, inelegant and unimaginative headline. On Page 1, no less.


On A-2, there are three embarrassing corrections, one blamed "on incorrect information" from Englewood.


Remixing old news


The front of Sykes' Local section today seems to rehash a lot of old news.


Those Westwood and Hillsdale residents are demanding a solution to flooding, as they did a few weeks ago.


I didn't see any publicity in The Record about last weekend's Korean harvest festival in Bergen County, but here is a story about a second Korean festival, this one sponsored by a New York City group.


Another glowing downtown success story appears at the bottom of the page --this one on Glen Rock, where Scandale lives -- in contrast to total neglect of struggling downtowns in Hackensack, Englewood and Teaneck, the county's most diverse communities.


Police news and news about the police -- not municipal news -- again dominate the section put out by Sykes and her supremely lazy assignment minions.


Cutting to the bone


In Better Living, I no longer see anything from free-lance food writer Amy Kuperinsky, who wrote numerous Starters and Martketplaces in recent years.


Today's Starter, "a first look at recently opened restaurants," is by Bob Probert, whose work has also appeared in (201) magazine.


Related articles

• Another puzzler from Liz Houlton's copy desk (eyeontherecord.blogspot.com)
• Where quality control is out of control (eyeontherecord.blogspot.com)
• Why isn't anyone held accountable? (eyeontherecord.blogspot.com)

What's Christie got against Paterson?

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Flooding in Paterson on Tuesday.

The Record made front-page news of Governor Christie's visits to Wayne on Tuesday and Lincoln Park on Wednesday, but the stories and today's editorial on disaster relief never explain why he didn't go the the hardest-hit North Jersey community -- Paterson.

Floods classified as disaster

The main headline on Page 1 of the Woodland Park daily fails miserably in conveying that federal aid is on the way to the storm-ravaged region. 


Using "classified" in a short-count headline and omitting the word "aid" is shooting yourself in the foot, but it's what we've come to expect from Liz Houlton's news copy desk.


Presumably, Christie will join President Obama in Paterson, but I haven't seen any explanation on why their visit has been set for Sunday. What's wrong with Friday?


The Record ran one small photo of flooding in Paterson. What one official calls the worst flooding in more than a century can be captured only in a photo from the air, but Publisher Stephen A. Borg won't spend the money.


More holes


In a letter that seems to be addressed directly to the laziest assignment desk in the Northern Hemisphere, Linda Palamara of Rochelle Park wants to know why Monday's local news coverage completely omitted "catastophic" flooding in her town (A-18).


Editor Francis Scandale and head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes had their reporters running around documenting the impact on businesses, schools, shopping and water quality.


On L-2 today, the region's flooding history and long-term solutions are discussed, but the story belongs on A-1 in place of Christie's self-serving visits to flood areas. 


(The $1.8 billion for a flood tunnel -- deemed too expensive in the 1990s -- seems like peanuts today.)


Christie even refused to answer questions from flood-weary Lincoln Park residents, one of whom angrily told a radio reporter he visited only "to show his face."


In view of how often obituaries of prominent residents are literally buried on L-3 and the obit pages, why did Sykes give up so much space on the Local front today for the funeral of an EMT from Princeton?


Beer news


On the Better Living front, Starters, a feature on a recently opened restaurant,  carries the byline of Bob Probert, whose work has also appeared in (201) magazine.


Probert reports on a Hoboken restaurant and beer garden that is perfectly suited for carnivores with beer bellies. All the dishes he lists are meat.