Slanted reporting, voter apathy may deal fatal blow to Murphy bid for N.J. governor

Democrat Phil Murphy, left, and Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno during the first of two debates before the Nov. 7 election to decide who will replace Chris Christie, the worst governor in New Jersey history (photo from The Associated Press). 

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

With less than a month to go before New Jersey elects a new governor, we may be seeing a rerun of the 2016 presidential election.

The news media seemed to have bent over backward to help the Republican candidate demonize the Democrat, and score an upset after lagging in the polls. 

There was hardly any media pushback when Donald J. Trump lied about his opponent or called her "crooked Hillary."

Now, the coverage of the New Jersey contest between Democrat Phil Murphy, who was ambassador to Germany in the Obama administration, and Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno hardly seems even-handed.

Combine that with Democratic voters who might stay home on Nov. 7, because they are confident  Murphy will win the election, as the polls are predicting, and his campaign could be in trouble.

Turnout in the 2013 election, when Christie defeated Democratic state Sen. Barbara Buono and won a second term, was the lowest for a gubernatorial election in New Jersey.

Thousands of Democrats didn't even bother to vote.

Slanted reporting

Murphy and Guadagno debated Tuesday night, and the lead paragraph in The Record of Woodland Park on Wednesday noted she attacked him "as an out-of-touch and cowardly liberal destined to ruin New Jersey's economy."

But nowhere in his story does State House Bureau reporter Dustin Racioppi quote Murphy, who accused Guadagno repeatedly of making up facts or lying outright about him and his proposal to tax millionaires, wealthy corporations and marijuana users.

Harvey Weinstein

She called Murphy a "coward" for not speaking out earlier about Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood producer and major Democratic donor accused of sexually harassing women, but never used the phrase "cowardly liberal."

That was the reporter's own demonization of Murphy, consistent with his earlier slanted stories about the gubernatorial campaign.

In fact, the reporter ignored Guadagno's apparently baseless accusation at the debate and on Twitter that Murphy took campaign contributions from Weinstein; he only quotes the Democrat saying he "didn't get one dime from this guy."

And Racioppi seems to base his first paragraph claim that Murphy is "destined to ruin New Jersey's economy" on GOP ads alleging he'll raise taxes on the middle class by $1.3 billion (that has been revised to $5 billion, as well as higher tolls, in the latest TV spots).

Racioppi doesn't bother pointing out they are total fabrications by the Guadagno campaign.

See: GOP ads in New Jersey lie like Trump

The mail-in ballot for the Nov. 7 general election in New Jersey includes two public questions, below.

One asks for approval of $125 million in bonds to provide grants to public libraries.

The second question would prevent the governor from using monetary damages or fines against those who contaminate the environment for any other purpose than "to repair, restore, replace or preserve the state's natural resources."

WNYC-FM

The report on Tuesday night's debate filed by Karen Rouse of WNYC-FM, New York and New Jersey Public Radio, also appeared to be one sided.

Rouse claimed Guadagno scored a number of "zingers," and said Murphy's responses ran long and were cut off by the moderators.

Rouse is a former education reporter for The Record.

For an impartial report, see the story filed by Michael Catalini of The Associated Press:

Murphy, Guadagno trade jabs

over Weinstein, Christie, Trump

More errors

A letter to the editor of The Record on Tuesday complained a black-and-white photo of Governor Christie in a house ad showed him "as a mean-spirited ogre. A very unflattering photo."

Frank Venditti of Old Tappan contrasted that photo with one of Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin advertising the gubernatorial debate.

The Doblin photo "is one of a very distinguished and knowledgeable man. It is very flattering."

But someone goofed, and ran a photo of President Trump speaking at the Las Vegas Police Department with Venditti's letter.

PABT

PABT is the acronym for the Port Authority's midtown Manhattan Bus Terminal, which is bursting at the seams handling 270,000 daily trips, many of them by North Jersey commuters.

The Record's Opinion Page on Tuesday carried a column by two state senators, urging the agency to add two floors to the terminal instead of building a new hub one block west of the site.

Structural engineers back the plan, which would expand the terminal for more than 30,000 additional commuters, preserve access to 11 New York subway lines and allow rebuilding of the existing six floors.

My question is, Why haven't I read about the "build in place" proposal in the news columns of The Record?

Food for the 1%

Even though only 1 percent of Americans have Celiac disease, Food Editor Esther Davidowitz devoted more than three full pages in last Friday's Better Living tabloid to "great gluten-free eats."

But in the process, Davidowitz promoted restaurants or shops that serve artery clogging red meat raised on harmful human antibiotics, calamari with cured bacon linked to cancer, and sugary cookies and crepes.