Image via WikipediaImagine if readers could vote out the editors of The Record of Woodland Park -- such lifers as Deirdre Sykes, Tim Nostrand, Barbara Jaeger, Liz Houlton (the hag in rags) and Jim "We Can't Get Rid of Him" McGarvey, plus shameless Editor Francis Scandale, who has cheapened the front page in the past decade.
Even when they are handed a great story, they don't know what to do with it.
Look at the clunky set of headlines on A-1 today, with "GOP" used on each of the two main stories, for an echo that is a big no-no in headline writing.
Nothing would have been wrong with an umbrella head across the page to highlight the victory of Republicans in Bergen County and the U.S. House of Representatives.
And what does the drop headline on the House story mean? The past two years have been nothing but divisive, so the head, "Anti-Obama sentiment ushers in divided era," is confusing. It refers to what the story calls "the transition to divided government," a reference to the Senate and House being controlled by opposing parties. Also, the word "era" is simply the wrong word.
Seven reporters were sent out to talk to voters, but their voices are buried on A-7. Not much is made of how the Tea Party fell on its face in North Jersey or the role of Democrats who crossed party lines to elect County Clerk Kathleen Donovan as Bergen County executive.
Scandale, Sykes and their minions love election day. It means they can fill the paper with routine election stories and don't have to scramble to fill all the holes left by the mostly unproductive local staff.
