Murder-mayhem coverage is a real crime against readers

On New Year's Eve, two SUV drivers challenged each other for the right of way at Euclid and Prospect avenues in Hackensack, resulting in a big crash. Stop signs on Euclid and intersecting streets are routinely ignored, especially at the NJ Transit tracks.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Scanning today's front page, many readers still may feel hung over.

Page 1 of The Record is filled once again with more murder and mayhem -- a sensational mix of police, court and accident news (A-1 today and Friday). 

Tens of millions of Americans are sick and tired of gun violence, yet the news services can't resist politicizing President Obama's proposals to control it (A-1).

Today also brings a front-page story on big drug busts, in this case the seizure of 3 million doses of heroin (A-1).

But using the word "dent" in the headline blunts the impact.

Fire boxes?

There is so much detail in the A-1 story on fire boxes readers might wonder why the editors can't pay this kind of attention to a far more important story -- municipal finances.

From the looks of the Local front today, Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza might have nothing else to run, if there wasn't continued gun violence in Paterson (L-1).

Friday's paper

Road Warrior John Cichowski's column on pedestrian deaths completely misses the point, and he's been covering the issue for more than a decade (Friday's L-1).

Nothing less than severe criminal penalties will stop drivers from running over pedestrians, whether they are in a crosswalk or not.

If police and prosecutors would stop accepting such excuses as "I didn't see" the pedestrian or "I was blinded" by sun glare -- and lawmakers passed criminal laws to back them up -- the number of deaths and injuries surely would fall.

Knocking over a pedestrian is assault with a deadly weapon, pure and simple, and killing one is vehicular homicide.

Photo oops

In Friday's Informal Dining review, Elisa Ung raves about Steve & Andrea's "robust hearty chicken soup, thick with dark meat and greens" (Better Living).

But a photo in the top right corner of Page BL-10 shows a bowl of the Rutherford luncheonette's chicken soup with only a little white meat and hardly any greens.

There is no explanation why Friday was the second in a row with a review of a casual spot, previously a feature that appeared every two weeks.

The casual dining review recalls an old feature, Eating Out on $50, which reported on restaurants where four people could have dinner for that amount, including tax and tip.

This time, putting the focus on inexpensive restaurants looks like an economy move by North Jersey Media Group, which pays for the enormous meals enjoyed by Ung and her guests.

A Pulitzer finalist emerges from the mediocrity

At CNBC headquarters in Englewood Cliffs this morning, Porsche Cars North America introduced the 918 Spyder, a plug-in hybrid sports car with 887 horsepower and a base price of $845,000, above and below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A photo on Page A-3 of The Record today shows Staff Writer Rebecca O'Brien being congratulated by Editor Marty Gottlieb and colleagues on Monday -- a rare glimpse inside a newsroom that fosters mediocrity.

The paper's series on the North Jersey heroin epidemic by O'Brien and Tom Mashberg was named a Pulitzer Prize "finalist" in the local news category.

But the actual prize was given to the Tampa Bay Times for  a probe of housing for the homeless that led "to swift reforms" (A-3).

Laggards

Meanwhile, the hard-working O'Brien is surrounded by mediocre colleagues, as columns on A-1 and L-1, and a health story on the Better Living cover demonstrate today.

The Record is no different than other media in being unable to resist anniversaries.

Today, burned-out Columnist Mike Kelly rehashes last year's Boston Marathon Bombing, which readers are already sick and tired of (A-1).

On the Local front, Road Warrior John Cichowski claims police are pulling over "a record number of motorists as if they were stray cattle at a roundup" (L-1).

What an odd phrase to describe drivers using cellphones in North Jersey. 

And I haven't noticed any unusual enforcement of distracted driving, just as I hardly ever see drivers stopped for speeding or blowing through stop signs, far more dangerous behavior.

No local news

There is so little local news today, L-6 carries four obituaries of obscure people most readers have never heard of.

The really bad news today is on Page 1.

The state budget gap keeps growing -- $145 million for March -- and The Record still has not reported what programs were cut by Governor Christie, who claims to have trimmed $700 million in spending (A-1).

The lead story today adds a great deal of detail to Christie's "intertwined government and political operations," which led to the George Washington Bridge scandal, among other things (A-1). 

Crappy reporting

The Better Living editors debut Your Health, a "new weekly health page," but the first major story is disappointing (BL-1).

The reporter, John Petrick, says "organic," "natural" and "free-range" are "seemingly healthy buzz terms" that don't mean "much." 

Yet on the continuation page, he concedes "organic at least has meaning, if not proven benefits" (BL-2).

What crappy reporting and editing. 

In  fact, organic food is grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are banned.

Organic meat and poultry are grass fed or raised on a vegetarian diet without harmful animal antibiotics and growth hormones.

Back from exile?

A decade ago, Petrick became a features writer at The Record, beating out at least one reporter who sought the promotion from then-Editor Francis "Frank" Scandale.

Then, another editor decided to exile Petrick to covering criminal and civil trials at the Passaic County Courthouse in Paterson. Is he back in features now?

He did a great job as a courthouse reporter, but this first health story isn't up to that standard.