No man has said so much, only to be ignored by so many

Even on a Sunday, lanes on Anderson and River streets in Hackensack were closed, this time for work by PSE&G. One lane of South River Street near the county jail also was closed for replacement of the sidewalk and curb. Also closed are the Court Street Bridge and West Fort Lee Road in Bogota.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Readers looking for relief from the 24/7 coverage of Pope Francis get hit over the head today by another crappy baseball column on Page 1 of The Record.

That's played next to a Washington Post story on the partisan political paralysis in Congress, now dominated by conservative Republicans (A-1).

The piece at the bottom of the front page on the gender gap in coaching youth sports seems like an afterthought (A-1).

And it raises questions about why Editor Martin Gottlieb doesn't commission a similar story on the gender gap in print journalism.

Pope in Philly

The A-1 story on Francis in Philadelphia is the ninth straight day his Cuba and U.S. visits have been played on the front page of the Woodland Park daily.

It's doubtful anyone in power is going to act on anything he said in New York or Philadelphia.

Three U.S. Supreme Court justices -- Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, all conservative Catholics -- boycotted Francis' speech to a joint session of Congress.

Many conservative Republicans basically said Francis should mind his own business instead of urging the eradication of poverty, reforming immigration and slowing climate change, among other issues the GOP refuses to budge on.

On Saturday, Mike Kelly's A-1 column on Francis in Manhattan appeared under this sub-headline:

A busy day

of spreading

'good vibes' 

Local news?

Today's Road Warrior is like so many written by Staff Writer John Cichowski, who hijacked the commuting column a dozen years ago (L-1).

His piece on traffic deaths is filled with mind-numbing statistics, and sheds no light on the daily nightmare North Jersey commuters face, whether they drive or take a bus or train.

The Local front is dominated by a big photo and story on a motorcycle accident that injured rap star Fetty Wap in his hometown of Paterson (L-1).

On second reference, he is referred to as "Fetty Wap," not just "Wap," in contrast to normal practice.

The small photo and caption on naming of a footbridge to honor Harold Bloom, former principal of Hackensack High School, is the first coverage of anything to do with schools in the city for at least a year, if not longer (L-1).

VW drivers

The Business front today reports on Volkswagen drivers who feel betrayed by the automaker's illegal diesel engines, installed in 11 million cars worldwide (B-1).

The story comes six days after The New York Times did the same reaction piece to heavy air pollution from so-called clean diesels, interviewing former Record photographer John Decker, among others.

Business reporter Richard Newman managed to interview another former Record staffer, Olga Wickerhauser of Fleminton. 

Business is eight pages today, but readers find only only one other staff written story, which makes you wonder what the section editors do all week for their inflated salaries.

Hidden meaning

On the Opinion front, I got a kick out of hidden meaning in the headline over yet another Kelly column on Francis:

THE MAN WITH A MESSAGE

The veteran reporter has been an opinion columnist for more than two decades now, but he rarely has any opinions or message for readers.

South Korea

Is the ban on South Korea travel stories over (T-1)?

On the Travel cover today, the Washington Post piece on Seoul ends an apparent ban imposed by Travel Editor Jill Schensul, a vegetarian and dog lover, that dates to at least to the late 1990s.

It's significant that Schensul didn't travel there herself.

The food-phobic travel editor

Page 1 of The Record today is filled with hard news, which is not always the case. The newspaper loves putting sports and infrastructure stories all over the front. Readers may not know that a story, no matter how important, will not be assigned to the central element of the page unless it has a great photo (or graphic, as in the algebra-test story today). In Record parlance, that story is "the patch."

On Page A-8, a story about a protest by commercial fishermen is silent on whether the new rules will affect New Jersey fishing ports.

A letter to the editor on A-11 claims "police salaries are out of control." The Record has published a number of stories in recent years, blaming high police and teacher salaries for the financial troubles of many towns. But it has been silent for the past decade on the incredible inefficiencies of home rule. Does Bergen County need 70 police chiefs, and police and fire departments; almost as many superintendents of schools and Departments of Public Works, and 100 to 200 neighborhood schools? Aren't they the reason property taxes are so high?

The Local section has no municipal news from diverse Teaneck, Hackensack and Englewood.

Better Living  has no food coverage, which is the case on most Saturdays, unless you count the stories on Halloween candy.

The Sunday Travel section -- delivered with the Saturday paper -- is a collector's item. It actually carries a story about restaurants (in New Orleans). Many travel sections are filled with stories about food, a big reason many people travel, but not The Record's section.

Have readers noticed the paper has had no major articles about travel in South Korea in many, many years? It's believed The Record's travel editor -- an animal lover -- is horrified by the notion  that some South Koreans allegedly eat dogs and won't run any stories about South Korea. This same editor traveled to Africa to help animals -- not people.

The story about New Orleans restaurants confines itself to the French Quarter, ignoring all the great neighborhood places, including Li'l Dizzy's Cafe (shrimp and grits) and Parkway Bakery (overstuffed po' boy sandwiches). It also provides no strategy for avoiding all the artery-clogging butter and cream in creole food, such as eating at one of the great Vietnamese places in or near the city.

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