Editors don't I.D. crime victim as NJMG developer

On River Street in Hackensack, customers actually line up and wait for a seat at White Manna, where they pay for the privilege of eating mystery meat and other unhealthy food.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Is the deal off between North Jersey Media Group and multimillionaire Fred Daibes for development of 20 acres in Hackensack where The Record prospered for more than 110 years?

A story on the sale of Daibes' luxury St. Moritz high-rise in Edgewater appeared in Friday's Local section (L-3), but there was no mention of whether he still plans to build apartments on the River Street property.

Despite all his wealth, Daibes apparently cut corners on security at the St. Moritz, and was a victim of a home invasion last November.

Four suspects yanked him from bed, broke his ribs and shoulder blade, and made off with nearly $2 million in cash, gold bars and other valuables, according to county prosecutors.

Daibes' luxury and exotic car collection was photographed for Bergen.com in the driveway of the St. Moritz.

The rental building, at 100 Daibes Court, boasts of hotel-like amenities, but its Web site doesn't mention security.

Today's paper

In today's edition of The Record, front-page stories speculating about the whereabouts of a missing jet and the fate of 239 people on board have been replaced by a story on the Jets (A-1).

Would four people killed by fire in a shore motel that was a refuge for Sandy survivors still be alive, if Governor Christie hadn't bungled the distribution of federal aid (A-1)?

Christie's mismanagement of state finances gets gentle treatment in another Page 1 story, which avoids discussing his inflexible stance against taxing the wealthy or raising the low gasoline tax to revive the bankrupt Transportation Trust Fund (A-1).

Local yokels

Today's Local section is heavy on Law & Order news, including a dramatic photo of a Norwood DPW garage fire that injured no one and whose cause eludes the talented local staff (L-6).

The Better Living editors waste their cover today on a half-dozen Jersey bimbos. A seventh bimbo wrote the piece (BL-1).

Editor teaches Obama a lesson

Image via Wikipedia

An oyster festival in Asbury Park "will feature foods," The Record reports.

In  his speech to Congress, President Obama scolded Republicans for their "political circus" and chastised the media for their fixation on polls and the 2012 election as the nation's crippled economy limps along.


The Star-Ledger, The Times of Trenton, Asbury Park Press and most other New Jersey dailies put the president's call to action on the front page today, but Editor Francis Scandale wanted to teach Obama a lesson for questioning the media's judgment.


So, Scandale demoted Obama to Page A-8, and devoted most of The Record's front page to 10-year-old news about 9/11 -- in another example of how the editor's famously flawed news judgment is a disservice to readers.


Flights of fancy


Staff Writer Lindy Washburn did a great job on how a small Canadian town with a long runway became a refuge for 38 passenger jets when U.S. airspace was closed on 9/11 (A-1).


But does this decade-old story of international hospitality deserve nearly half of the front page and a full two pages inside? 


And are the unlabeled first 10 paragraphs of italic type on the front page a contemporary account from Gander, Newfoundland, or what?


Were other stories held to accommodate this behemoth?


The other elements on A-1 today are more flooding news and Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson's review of the billions of federal dollars spent on local security since 9/11, a story that consumes another three-quarters of a page inside.


Colorblind


The A-4 story on the swearing in of Anne Paterson to the state Supreme Court neglects to mention she was originally nominated to replace the only black justice, John Wallace Jr., whom Governor Christie declined to reappoint.


The A-11 story and photo of a "seemingly intoxicated moose" in Sweden is such a waste of space, the Woodland Park daily's wire editor must be tipsy, too.


Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin is well-acquainted with the Port Authority's historical disdain for mass transit, so why doesn't he say so in an editorial criticizing the bi-state agency for charging a state agency, NJ Transit, to use PA crossings and bus terminals (A-22)?


Lazy, hazy days


You know Road Warrior John Cichowski is desperate for material when he devotes an entire L-1 column to one driver's Top 10 list of irritating motorists.  


Either that or he refused to leave the office and do some reporting on commuting problems. 


Cichowski leads my Top 10 list of irritating editors and columnists.


On L-2 today, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes runs filler on a Teterboro Airport Aviation Hall of Fame expo, one day after a preview in Better Living.


Monsy Alvarado, the reporter assigned to Hackensack, wrote more than 20 inches today on a discovery motion in an assault complaint against the South Hackensack police chief (L-3).


Eat me


In her 3-star review of St. Eve's in Ho-Ho-Kus, Staff Writer Elisa Ung tells readers the beef she sampled was naturally raised, but is silent on the pork.


She ran out of room after wasting the first five paragraphs of the review on the chef's resume and his previous restaurants (Better Living centerfold).


A photo caption has the chef's name under his wife's image and vice versa.


On Page 22 of Better Living, an ad on the 34th annual Festival of the Sea in Point Pleasant Beach recalls the editors' recent error two days in a row,  confusing that town with the borough of Point Pleasant.


To save face, Scandale ran no corrections.


An item on Page 26 notes the oyster festival in Asbury Park "will feature foods."

Editors don't know beach from hole in head

Image via Wikipedia

The boardwalk at Point Pleasant Beach.

The Record today again cranks up its public-relations machine for Governor Christie with a flattering photo and story on his drumming up business for the Jersey Shore after Hurricane Irene.

Back to the beach

Christie makes pitch for big Shore holiday

No problem with the upbeat Page 1 headlines, but the editors really screwed up the story's lead paragraph and photo captions on A-1 and A-6. 

All three mistakenly put Christie in Point Pleasant, a separate community from Point Pleasant Beach, the one with the boardwalk.

Wrong-way Frank

It's a common error, but not one Editors Francis Scandale, Deirdre Sykes and Liz Houlton should be making, especially Houlton, who supervises the news copy desk, which is supposed to catch such boners.

Day after day, this trio's abject ignorance of all things Jersey gives readers the impression they wake up, look around and wonder, "How the f--- did I end up here?"

Greedy governor

Also on Page 1 today, Christie pulls more sleight of hand by grabbing as much as $1.25 billion from higher New Jersey Turnpike tolls to support road, bridge and mass-transit projects that are supposed to be paid for by the state Transportation Trust Fund, which is financed by the gasoline tax.

That money -- and another $1.8 billion from the Port Authority -- was supposed to help pay for new Hudson River rail tunnels, but the governor killed that project and grabbed the $3 billion-plus to preserve his conservative pledge not to raise taxes. 

Flood of tears

One story that should have been on the front page today is the L-3 account of the state's worst flood in 1903, though the photo caption doesn't mention the city where a boat rescue took place.

I wonder why Sykes, the head assignment editor, devoted the bottom of the Local front today to a single Jewish family whose relatives died in the Holocaust.

Looking over all the flood news, Hackensack residents are wondering when Sykes will resume covering municipal news. The last stories they saw ran Aug. 25.