Editors extend leashes on reporters

Official Seal of Rutgers University (Wikipedia)

Today and Monday, The Record catches up on Hurricane Sandy news with two front-page stories.

Today, we read about Paterson firefighters helping out in Keansburg, and on Monday, we learned about the plight of Hackensack residents who had to run for their lives from flood waters.

The A-1 Hackensack story recalls the experience of residents  in Little Ferry and Moonachie, so readers are wondering why they are just seeing it now, three weeks after Sandy hit New Jersey on Oct. 29.

Some readers get the impression head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza are playing out the leashes on reporters.

Or, maybe, because the flooded-out residents in Hackensack are black, they had to wait for Sykes and Sforza to pay attention to them.

Loud snoring

Page 1 today and Monday also carry stories about the Rutgers University football team under headlines that are better than sleeping pills.

If the headline wasn't enough to put readers to sleep on Monday, the first sentence of Tara Sullivan's sports column did the trick:

"The Rutgers football narrative dates t0 1869 ...."

Who the F has time to read about nearly 150 years of history, let alone one involving jock itch, ass-slapping and homophobia. 
  

Little local news  


Today's and Monday's Local sections have no Hackensack news, but today, the editors found room for a photo of a hole in a wall that was made by a driver who thought a Clifton pharmacy had a drive-through (L-6).

On today's Local front, Port Authority police claim to have saved a man who was trying to jump off the George Washington Bridge on Monday.

In truth, the man had been bankrupted by Hudson River tolls, and couldn't find a seat on a bus or train during the rush hour (L-1).

Christie is a loser

This past Friday, The Record reported without fanfare the state lost 11,700 jobs in October, the biggest one-month decline since June 2009, before Governor Christie took office.

It's more evidence that, as with so much Christie says and does, the so-called Jersey Comeback was little more than great public relations, aided and abetted by The Record and other media. 

See previous post

 on more Road Warrior follies

 

This kind of editing just doesn't add up

NJ Transit Waiting Room, New York Penn Station, Friday at 5:36 p.m.

The Record's assignment and copy desks continue to operate in meltdown mode with mathematical errors in the first paragraph of today's off-lead story on Page 1.

In reporting Hurricane Sandy damage to NJ Transit's locomotives and rail cars, the assignment and copy editors screw up again, and Production Editor Liz Houlton completely misses the errors and doesn't bother to correct them.

The lead paragraph reports, "A third of NJ Transit's locomotives and nearly a quarter of the agency's rail cars" were damaged by flood waters [italics added].

Off the tracks

Of course, readers wouldn't have known anything was amiss if the reporter, Staff Writer Karen Rouse, didn't include total numbers.

But there they are in the third paragraph: a total of 203 locomotives and 1,162 rail cars.

So, if 63 locomotives were damaged, that's less than a third, not "a third" (67.6). And if 261 rail cars need repair, that's not even close to "a quarter" (290.5), and doesn't qualify for the modifier of "nearly."

To avoid those errors, the actual numbers should have been used in the first paragraph.

Did the damaged rolling stock result in unusual crowding this week in the NJ Transit Waiting Room at New York's Penn Station and on trains?

The Record is silent on that question.

Remember the Crusades? 

There is another big error on Editor Marty Gottlieb's front page today, the headline over the lead story:

Rocket fire targeting

holy city unprecedented   

 

Jerusalem has been fought over for centuries, so "unprecedented" is the wrong word, unless Houlton's intention is to sell papers.

Remember Hackensack?

In Local, the drought on Hackensack news continues under orders from head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza.

Meanwhile, the Nov. 16 edition of the weekly Hackensack Chronicle is reporting the Hackensack City Council approved an ordinance creating the position of police director.

The council action came on Nov. 8, but hasn't been reported in The Record. 

Great accident photo 

Staff Photographer Tariq Zehawi, who has been reduced to the role of ambulance chaser, came up with an unusually good photo at the scene of a minor accident (L-3) -- a staple of local news coverage. 

Here's a real turkey

Today's Better Living section promotes another chef who apparently settles for low-quality ingredients, but tries to make them taste better.

The cover story on Session Bistro Chef Chris Holland and deep-fried turkeys ignores the healthy choice: a turkey raised without harmful antibiotics and animal byproducts (BL-1). 

Dining-out jargon  

In Friday's Better Living section, readers found a lukewarm review of an Indian restaurant, Kamal Palace in North Arlington, a tiny town not worth the detour when dining out.

But Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung continues to sling jargon at readers, such as service she says isn't "authoritative." 

Ung also says Kamal Palace isn't "appropriate" for "anyone looking for nuanced flavors."

She also complains Goa Fish came with salmon, but she would have preferred "a milder fish with the sauce."

Is there any fish blander than salmon, presumably the wildly popular, artificially colored farmed salmon used at Kamal Palace? 

Unaffordable editing

More serious editing problems were evident on Thursday in the A-3 story on the "future of affordable housing."

The Record's assignment editors continue to sell affordable housing as "one of New Jersey's most intractable political problems." 

Of course, they should describe how it pits Governor Christie and his supporters in wealthy, mostly white towns against low- and moderate-income residents, many of whom are black and Hispanic.

This is a racial story as the following sentence on Thursday made clear:

"New Jersey remains one of the most racially and economically segregated regions of the country."

But this was the last sentence in the poorly edited story. It could have provided context for readers, if only it had appeared much higher up.

And in the next to the last paragraph, a "Walsh" is mentioned, but his/her full name and title don't appear anywhere in the story. 

Editors' crystal ball

Finally, The Record falls into the trap of trying to predict from justices' comments during oral arguments how the New Jersey Supreme Court will rule on Christie's attempt to subvert the construction of more affordable housing.

Look what happened when the national media tried to do the same after oral arguments on the federal health care law, only to see the U.S. Supreme Court uphold the law.

And remember the alleged "statistical dead heat" in the presidential election: President Obama beat Mitt Romney decisively in both the Electoral College and popular vote. 

See previous post

on more Road Warrior errors 

New section robs local-news readers

An old tree lost a big branch on Oct. 29 as Sandy's winds whipped Hackensack.

Since its debut on Sept. 6, a new Thursday section called Signature has been filled with local news and features exploring a theme: "DEFINING LIFE IN NORTH JERSEY."

Meanwhile, a daily section called Local has reached a low point in covering municipal news under head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza.

Given all the fatal and non-fatal accident photos, local obituaries, murder trials and other mayhem, perhaps Local should have a theme, too: "DEFINING DEATH IN NORTH JERSEY."

Of course, it's readers in Hackensack and other neglected communities who are dying a slow death as Signature sucks the life out of Local under the editorship of Alan Finder, who, like Editor Marty Gottlieb, is a veteran of The New York Times.

Is Gottlieb saying the local news and features appearing in Signature once a week are his only response to daily complaints from local readers?

Sandy and Morris

Today's Local front carries horror stories about the recovery effort in Hurricane Sandy's wake, and the obituary of Morris Zysblat, 99, a Teaneck man who died three months short of his goal of "joining the centenarian ranks."

The obit is unusual in that Staff Writer Jay Levin leaves out a cause of death, though he does say Zysblat "soldiered through four days of no electricity" after Sandy, and was "eating whatever he wanted" for more than a year, including pastrami, hot dogs and salami, cured meats that are filled with harmful preservatives.

So, did Sandy or cured meats or something else kill Morris Zysblat?

New Hackensack reporter

One Hackensack resident says readers who haven't seen any stories about their community in recent weeks may soon find relief in the assignment of a new reporter, Hannan Adely.

Adley's photo can be found on Twitter at the following link: Hannan Adely 

Sykes and Sforza apparently ordered the one-dimensional coverage of Hackensack by Staff Writer Stephanie Akin, who covered little more than the legal problems of former Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa. 

Pan-handling

God bless Maria Elena Schwartz, who actually makes her own chicken stock when preparing paella for her family (BL-1).

But the dish would be far better -- and healthier --  with store-bought organic stock and antibiotic-free chicken.

Does Food Editor Susan Leigh Sherrill -- who debuts a new feature on "home cooks and their signature dishes" -- really think there are more than a handful of readers who want to slave over the stove to put this dish on the table? 

There's that word again: "signature."  

   

See previous post on more Road Warrior errors

Editors print more Christie B.S.

Ex-CIA Director David Petraeus. Is there a medal for adultery? (Wikipedia)

Who said Editor Marty Gottlieb of The Record can't turn on a dime and respond to breaking news?

Look at the twin coverage of Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane David on Page 1 today.

But does Gen. David Petraeus' affair really deserve to be on the front page of a North Jersey daily paper five days in a row?

Hey, Marty. You're not at The Times anymore. 

Pay more attention to how your local editors -- Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza -- are failing miserably every day in their mission to deliver news from Hackensack and many other communities.

Property tax news 
 
Poor Governor Christie. His preposterous statement on property taxes got pushed below the fold today.

Christie said towns can exceed the state's 2 percent annual property tax cap to pay for the cost of cleaning up after Sandy, "meaning some residents in storm-ravaged municipalities could face higher taxes" (A-1).

Could face higher taxes? Haven't property taxes gone up every year Christie has been in office -- with no Hurricane Sandy to blame?

With The Record doing his public relations, Christie can fire his many spokespeople and his spin doctor. 

Curling up with a good study

On the Local front, Road Warrior John Cichowski tries to keep readers entertained with his take on a study that found women drivers are in the majority now (L-1).

Big deal.  

The roads won't be any safer because of a hard core of male drivers I see on the turnpike and parkway who race each other, cut each other off, tailgate and weave in and out of slower traffic.

However, Sykes and Sforza are keeping up with utility pole news, as a photo on L-3 demonstrates.

Heat but no light

In Better Living, a story on home generators fails to explore the impact of the noise they make on neighbors who don't have lights or heat, and now can't sleep (BL-1).

Nor does The Record discuss whether a standby generator that automatically kicks in when the power goes out and runs on natural gas would add to the value of your home.

Pork and beans

For the second week in a row, Food Editor Susan Leigh Sherrill promotes a cookbook recipe featuring pork filled with harmful animal antibiotics and growth hormones (BL-1).
 

  

It's back to the same old clueless reporting

Commuters line up for NJ Transit buses in the midtown Port Authority Bus Terminal.

In today's and Monday's editions, The Record discusses the return to normalcy in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, but there are signs the editors also have lapsed into the clueless reporting of the past.

You'd think the "DIGGING OUT FROM SANDY" package on Page 1 today would have enough to report without more blah, blah, blah about Governor Christie's proposal for an income-tax cut.

Every story about the proposal should explain who will benefit most from a tax cut, but for some reason, the editors seem to be trying to hide from readers that Christie's plan would help the wealthy far more than the middle class (A-1).

2016 election already?

There's even more about Christie on the Local front (L-1): 

A Charles Stile column promoting him for the Republican Party's standard bearer in 2016. 

Seriously, is The Record going to start covering the next presidential election just 7 days after the last one? Give us a break.

Bitter Herb

If the Christie-for-president column is way premature, the lead L-1 story is weeks late for people who live the 9th Congressional District, where Democrats think Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, can be beaten in 2014.

Aided and abetted by the local-news editors, The Record's so-called Washington correspondent, Herb Jackson, did everything he could to slant coverage in the Nov. 6 election, largely ignoring the campaign of Teaneck Deputy Mayor Adam Gussen, a Democrat, early and often. 

Dissing Hackensack 

Meanwhile, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza became so accustomed to ignoring Hackensack before and after Hurricane Sandy that readers won't find any news from there today except the death of a former resident in Middletown, N.Y. (L-3).

Also on L-3, Sykes and Sforza return to reporting disruptions in mass transit, but continue to ignore  the overburdened bus and rail systems, and the resulting hellish traffic congestion.

Is it really necessary for the photo caption about Lincoln Tunnel and Route 495 accidents to describe the pedestrians as "morning" commuters.

Readers can plainly see the sun shining.  
 

The Record will never be the same again

Hurricane Sandy damage in the Rockaways. (dakine kane)

It's official. The Record today stops questioning the performance of utility companies in restoring power after Hurricane Sandy devastated North Jersey less than two weeks ago.

In the Sunday paper's news stories and columns, the editors are careful to avoid the question all of them should be asking:

Why did Public Service Electric and Gas Co., and other utilities need to call in hundreds of out-of-state workers to remove fallen trees and repair downed lines after the hurricane?

In other words, why do state regulators allow PSE&G to staff its repair crews at such low levels, especially in view of last year's freak snow storm, which hit two days before Halloween and left tens of thousands without electricity for a week or more?

Bigger fish to fry

Editor Marty Gottlieb's front page today reports the Jersey shore won't be "the same for years," and continues to focus on national news, demoting North Jersey power outages and mass-transit restoration to A-11.

Now, readers know The Record will never be the same local paper it was before abandoning Hackensack in 2009.

Lazy local editors

With the same lazy, unimaginative local editors in charge of coverage for a decade or more -- Deirdre Sykes, Dan Sforza and Tim Nostrand -- the hometown paper has given up attempting anything that approaches comprehensive coverage of even the biggest, most diverse towns in its circulation area. 

Since the storm hit on Oct. 29, The Record has reported the damage in broad strokes, largely ignoring Hackensack and many other communities.

That continues today with the Road Warrior reporting on a tiny minority who were able to power appliances with their hybrid cars (L-1), and the Your Money's Worth columnist discussing "how we get -- and lose -- electricity" (B-1).

None of your business

The Business section cover reports on how businesses fared, but ignores all of the Main Street merchants and restaurants (B-1).

Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung reports on only four eating places, presumably because she had to stop for dessert and the resulting sugar high obliterated the assignment from her mind (BL-1). 

Touring the county

Staff Writer Stephanie Akin, who supposedly was assigned to Hackensack before Sandy, was sent on a tour of Bergen County to report on damage in Moonachie, Ridgewood and other communities.

Meanwhile, Hackensack businesses and residents, who lost power for five days or longer, were ignored.

Christie media mania

On the Opion front today, Brigid Callahan Harrison examines the New Jersey gubernatorial contest in 2013, when Governor Christie presumably will run for a second term.

But Harrison neglects to discuss the impact of the state's media, which have embraced a governor who is slowly destroying the middle class in New Jersey.

Backed wrong horse

The Record's fawning coverage of the GOP bully has been clear from the outset, but in the Nov. 6 election, its bias for a local candidate was embarrassing.

The editors lavished a great deal of  attention on Englewood Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a Republican who challenged Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, yet Boteach lost in a landslide, despite all the money he spent.

Meanwhile, the editors immediately wrote off the campaign of Teaneck Deputy Mayor Adam Gussen -- even deriding how little money he had raised -- but the Democrat got a strong 43% of the vote in his bid to defeat Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage.  

Kelly's heart attack

The Opinion front today continues to inform readers that Columnist Mike Kelly "is away from the office on a short leave."

Speculation is that Kelly is roaming the world for a photographer who can make him look better than he does in his unflattering column photo with its shit-eating grin. 

Or that he is visiting journalism schools in search of instruction on how to write clearly and more concisely, and how to express the strong opinions readers expect from columnists.

But the truth is Kelly had a heart attack, as an anoymous reader of Eye on The Record informed me recently. 

Coronary bypasses?

The reader didn't say what type of surgery Kelly might have had or whether he had coronary bypasses.

Let's hope he takes the attack as the warning sign it is, and uses his column to inform readers about adopting a healthier lifestyle. 

Mr. and Mrs. Death

The subject of death got Page 1 play today in the unusual piece on Liz Parow and Michael Mittzenwei, spouses who own separate funeral homes in  North Arlington and New Milford. 

It was the only bright spot on an otherwise pedestrian front page.  

More sloppy editing 

Editor Liz Houlton's copy editors screwed up again on an a well-written piece about travel to Spain by Staff Writer Kathleen Lynn (Travel front).

On T-5, the photo caption calls Cordoba's Mezquita "a Muslim mosque now used as a Catholic church."

Putting aside whether the word "Muslim" is needed before "mosque," Lynn's story makes clear a cathedral built in the middle of the mosque is still used for services, not the mosque itself.

And, of course, the writer has to be questioned for reporting so little on Spain's extraordinary cuisine, which for many is a big incentive to travel there.  

See previous post on more

 Road Warrior errors