Can we vote out the editors?

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Imagine 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. 

Lock him up, throw away the key

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The New Jersey blue-plate special. It's often seen on cars that are driven conservatively.

 Editor's note: This post was published prematurely, then taken down to complete it.

Trains and buses into Manhattan are standing-room-only during rush hours, the local bus system is on its last legs and traffic congestion is choking the region. So what does commuting columnist John Cichowski write about on Page 1 of The Record of Woodland Park today? How the state hopes to raise extra money through the sale of special license plates.


If this Desk Warrior actually went to Leesburg state prison to interview two inmates who make New Jersey plates with NASCAR and sports-team logos, it apparently was one of the few times he left the office on a story in recent years. 

Chick, as he's known around the office, mostly writes about the problems of hundreds of drivers who send him e-mails that keep him  riveted to his office chair, while head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes pats him affectionately on the head. 


His column today is another crime against readers. Someone should lock him up and throw away the key.

What about local elections?

The big element on A-1 today is a wire-service story forecasting the outcome of today's midterm congressional elections. But is their any word in the paper about crucial local elections, including the Bergen County executive and sheriff's races? Editor Francis Scandale is so bored with them.

What on earth is education reporter Leslie Brody doing writing about burglaries in Tenafly, where Publisher Stephen A. Borg lives in a $3.65 million, 8,500-square-foot McMansion? Police report six break-ins and four attempted burglaries in roughly two months likely are related. 

I guess the burglars got uncomfortably close to Borg's Churchill Road home or he recalled the brazen heist of hundreds of thousands of dollars in antique jewelry from his father's East Hill mansion in Englewood. Have you ever seen a story leading the Local section on burglaries in Hackensack, Teaneck or any other town?

More police news

Hackensack reporter Monsy Alvarado breaks her nine-day silence by writing two stories about the Police Department, just about the only city agency she has covered in the past two years. In Teaneck, an Orthodox congregation has come to the rescue of an historic tree on Cedar Lane. Mazel tov. 


There is no Englewood news nor anything on the issues-driven municipal races in Ridgewood and other communities.




Buried on L-3 is a story on Governor Christie's effort to slash and cap the pay of the hundreds of pampered school superintendents in New Jersey. Why isn't this on A-1? Oh, then there would be no room for Chick's drivel.

Sleight of hand

But there's more. Check out the story on the L-8 business page on how The Record has outperformed competing dailies, including The Star-Ledger and the New York papers, with the smallest circulation decline of them all for the six months ended Sept. 30 over the year-earlier period. 


What the story doesn't say is that The Record's circulation figures include the Herald News (total of 137,269 daily and 171,348 Sunday). Borg always manages to leave that out.


Borg is quoted as saying The Record has been able to "maintain its circulation because of its continued dedication to the editorial product." This from the marketing whiz who gave us "The Trusted Local Source" as the paper's motto, replacing, "Friend of The People It Serves."


"Every day, we evaluate the product looking for ways to make it better," Borg said. 

Can't you hear the howls of laughter from readers, who see less and less local, education and food coverage, not more?


Finally, bad headlines continue to confuse. "Day jobs in the way of vote to limit raises" -- the A-1 lead today -- successfully avoids the right word, "conflicts," as in: "Conflicts in the way of vote to limit raises."


On L-1, the headline says, "5 laid-off officers hired to city force after retirements." Hired to? Shouldn't it be "hired by"?

'But only fools would save this tree'

The corner property on Cedar Lane in Teaneck with the endangered big tree, which has been the subject of several stories in The Record of Woodland Park, changed hands Monday, according to this editorial from Cliffview Piloit.com:

Don't save that tree

Readers are stuck, too

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Theodore C. Sorensen died on Sunday at 82.

The featured piece on Page 1 today is a sob story about the thousands of homeowners who can't afford to live in North Jersey or leave. The headline declares: "Stuck with no exit." What about the tens of thousands of readers who are stuck with The Record of Woodland Park?

Where are readers going to turn when editors and reporters routinely ignore their concerns -- from the quality of local governments to the need for more mass transit to ease choking traffic congestion to a desire for a newspaper that doesn't depend almost completely on handouts, reports and surveys for story ideas.

Editor Francis Scandale, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and their lazy minions could have done a lot more with today's paper. 

The A-1 real estate story should have been honest with readers and acknowledged the factors that grossly inflated housing values before the recession let all the air out. And some of the sad stories are from homeowners who refuse to sell unless they make a killing. Who says the sale of a condo or home is supposed to make you rich?

The paper also should acknowledge the importance of real estate advertising to its bottom line and the special section Publisher Stephen A. "Greedy Stevie" Borg created -- largely to celebrate the industry and paint a rosy picture of home ownership, while hiding the shocking amount of interest banks charge over the 30 years of a mortgage.

$3.65M company mortgage

Thanks to a company mortgage, the young, arrogant Tarnished Silver Spoon lives in a $3.65 million dollar Tenafly mansion while many of his staffers can't afford even a modest home in Bergen County.

The death of Theodore C. Sorensen, the eloquent confidant of President John F. Kennedy, could have been a platform for one of The Record's political writers to note that what Republican and Tea Party candidates in Tuesday's election really are saying is:

"Ask not what you can do for your country, ask what you can do for yourself."

Today's Local section contains only three stories that could be considered municipal news, but nothing from Hackensack or Englewood or a lot of other towns.

Buried in the back of the section (L-6) is an inspiring vision of Great Falls National Park in Paterson, with a gorgeous photo by staffer Tyson Trish. Why isn't this story on the front of the section or even on Page 1 with this great photo blown up to a size readers can appreciate?

The likely reason is that Scandale and Sykes, who I'm guessing rarely visit Paterson, have spent years portraying the Silk City as a center of drugs and prostitution that have ruined many suburban lives, and as a murder capitol.

Clown loose in food store

What happens when you turn a clown loose in H Mart in Ridgefield, a large Korean supermarket that has one of the best selections of fresh fish, Asian greens and other produce in North Jersey? 

See the Better Living front, where Staff Writer Bill Ervolino chooses to buy and eat mystery pork and beef, and in the process makes fun of one of his Korean guides' English and parodies her diet, focusing on live octopus while ignoring all the healthy tofu and vegetables Koreans eat in main and side dishes.