The Record and NorthJersey.com lose even more readers in 2018, Gannett says

The Record of Woodland Park and the Hackensack Chronicle, a free weekly that no longer has its own staff, and reprints stories and photos from the daily newspaper. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Readers are fleeing The Record of Woodland Park and NorthJersey.com as if they were a sinking ship.

As of Dec. 31, 2018, daily circulation of The Record was 68,630, compared to 91,032 at the end of 2017.

The numbers include visitors to The Record's digital news site, NorthJersey.com, Gannett said in its 2018 Annual Report.

Sunday readership was 90,352, including visitors to NorthJersey.com, compared to 97,149 at the end of 2017.

That's a loss of 22,402 readers daily and 6,797 readers on Sunday in 2018.

'Bergen, N.J.'

The Record is listed 8th among Gannett's "major publications and their affiliated digital platforms." 

That means the once-great local daily newspaper published in Hackensack is ahead (in daily readers) of only The Des Moines Register and the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, N.Y., but behind both in Sunday circulation.

The annual report lists the location of The Record as "Bergen, New Jersey."

Under bylines in the print edition, The Record is referred to as "North Jersey Record."

End of 2016

At the end of 2016, readership of The Record and NorthJersey.com was 235,681 daily and 147,609 on Sundays, according to the 2016 Annual Report issued by Gannett, the nation's largest newspaper chain.

Gannett bought North Jersey Media Group from the Borg family in July 2016 for $39.3 million in cash.

NJMG published The Record, Herald News, (201) magazine, North Jersey.com and about 50 weeklies.

Layoffs

More than 350 NJMG employees were laid off eventually.

Retaining such veteran columnists as Mike Kelly, Charles Stile and John Cichowski apparently had no effect on keeping readers.

The error-prone Cichowski retired this year after writing the Road Warrior column for more than 15 years. 

Meanwhile, platforms for local news, including TAPIntoHackensack, may be drawing readers away from The Record and NorthJersey.com, which have cut municipal news drastically.

Read: Gannett admits circulation

 dropped dramatically after 2016 takeover

Read: What the Borgs started at The Record

 Gannett finishes with a vengeance

Many readers say editors from Gannett have turned once-great Record into a rag

For news of the extensive downtown rehabilitation in Hackensack, you'll have to do your own reporting. After The Record abandoned Hackensack for Woodland Park in 2009, stories about the city have been few and far between. The project shown above is on Atlantic Street, near Main.

The pavement of Main Street in Hackensack, above and below, has been left in disrepair in anticipation of the conversion of Main to two-way traffic sometime this year. State Street was converted to two-way traffic last year.

For drivers, Main Street is a rough ride.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- I've dropped The Record of Woodland Park, the once-great local daily newspaper I read for nearly 40 years.

I refused to subscribe to the Gannett Co. strategy of offering less local news coverage for a lot more money, and stopped paying for 7-day home delivery in December (now about $180 a year).

When I tried to call about renewing for weekend delivery only, I could never get through.

So, Gannett kept on delivering the paper every day for three more months, finally cutting me off in March.

On Monday, a front page story from Dustin Racioppi of The Record, above and below, tried hard to mislead readers into thinking Governor Murphy planned to raise taxes on the middle class, but has now changed his mind.

A few months ago, Gannett editors changed bylines in The Record to read "North Jersey Record," a publication that doesn't exist.

#gannettruinedmypaper

Many readers now refer to The Record as "a rag."

The biggest losers in the July 2016 takeover of The Record were the 350 employees of the publishing company, North Jersey  Media Group, who were laid off in the next eight months or so.

Close behind were the vast majority of older readers who found most of Gannett's resources were poured into the paper's website, NorthJersey.com, even as editors cut space for local news in the print edition.

That also was troubling, because the tens of thousands of older readers were less likely to use the computers or smartphones they need to take advantage of the digital platform, with its annoying pop-up ads.

And the layoffs in March 2017 included a veteran reporter who wrote expanded obituaries of prominent local residents and had started an aging beat, so many of the concerns of older readers are no longer being addressed. 

See: Readers slam The Record as 'junk'

See: Readers hit corporate greed, price hike

See: Dated columns, chest thumping, errors

See: Abandoning River City

Hackensack news?

There is far more news of Paterson in Local -- the single section that purports to cover the 90 or so towns in The Record's circulation area -- than of Hackensack.

As part of a sweeping downtown rehabilitation project, hundreds of apartments are under construction in Hackensack, the county seat and the most populous town in Bergen County.

But no stories have appeared on the delays plaguing the biggest project, at Main and Mercer streets; to provide a timeline for conversion of Main to two-way traffic, and other redevelopment news.  

Food news?

Gannett's decision in 2016 to drop the weekly restaurant review removed the last piece of critical food reporting.

Now, coverage of the best dishes the food writers ate in the last month or a roundup of places where chefs eat is so totally promotional they sound like advertising.

In the latter article on April 11, The Record not only misspelled Restaurant Serenade in Chatham as "Seranade," but got James Laird, owner and chef of the fine-dining restaurant, to admit one reason he likes the cheap, low-quality burger at Five Guys is "I can eat it as I drive."

By the way, a cheeseburger is listed on Laird's lunch menu at $20, though the beef isn't described; at Five Guys, mystery beef cheeseburgers are $8.69 and $5.69.

Last Wednesday, an article in The Record's Better Living section listed 10 restaurants where you can eat outside, none of them in Bergen County, where the majority of readers live.

Antibiotics in food

The Record has never covered controversial food news, such as the use of harmful antibiotics and growth hormones to raise animals or the large amounts of pesticides needed to grow vegetables and feed crops.

On the March 25 Better Living front, Food Editor Esther Davidowitz did announce a major project:

"Over the next few months, The Record and NorthJersey.com will be presenting a slew of features on ... pizza," Davidowitz said.

"Consider this the ultimate guide to everything you need to know about pizza in North Jersey."

I didn't know I needed a guide to pizza, let alone an "ultimate" one.

Also on March 25, a story from USA Today on the Business front discussed extra-cost grocery delivery services.

A quote from a consultant was enlarged and used next to the headline:

"As more people get used to it, it's become more popular."

Gee. How enlightening.

Headlines

The art of headline writing -- which I practiced as a copy editor at The Record of Hackensack -- no longer exists at the Gannett-owned paper.

On April 27, the front-page headline on the tabloid Hackensack Chronicle declared:

"New school board

may help mend bridges"

I'm pretty sure the headline writer meant to say "mend fences" or maybe "build bridges."

Veteran reporters

Some of the veteran reporters kept on by Gannett also are among the least productive.

On March 25, in the lead position on the front page of the Sunday edition, I was shocked to see the rare byline of Jean Rimbach, who continues her nearly decade-long coverage of a lawsuit filed against the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

The big news? 

"The family of a reputed mobster slain execution-style in 2007 moved a giant step closer on Tuesday to obtaining sealed records from a more than decade-old organized crime gambling investigation at the heart of its claims of corruption" in the prosecutor's office.

Columnists

Four veteran columnists -- Mike Kelly, Charles Stile, John Cichowski and Bill Ervolino -- apparently have been told there is no limit on how much they can write -- as Gannett editors desperately try to fill the space once taken up by state and local news.

Cichowski, the so-called commuting reporter, largely avoids covering the biggest story on his beat: 

The decline of mass transit, and growing traffic congestion and pollution at the Hudson River crossings.

Instead, he writes column after column about pedestrian bridges being in disrepair and other obscure transportation subjects.

As for Kelly, an opinion columnist, loyal readers often slog their way through his overwrought verbiage, only to exclaim they don't know where he stands on an issue.

Nepotism

Another veteran, Staff Writer Deena Yellin, tackled a subject rarely discussed in The Record:

Home-rule communities trying to limit nepotism -- the hiring or appointing of family members to town or school district positions.

But she didn't mention Hackensack, once derided as "Zisaville" for the large number of Zisa family members, cousins and other relatives in city positions.

Nor was Englewood Cliffs discussed.

Another sign that her story was less than exhaustive is Yellin admitting she called the New Jersey League of Municipalities, but could not come up with a "precise count of towns with anti-nepotism ordinances."

For another perspective on the decline of The Record, see the discussion on Hackensack's Community Message Boards:

My favorite paper is not having a good day

Built on lies, corruption, racism and more, the Trump presidency cannot possibly last

An illustration by William Hogan expresses the question that is on the minds of tens of millions of Americans outraged by the presidency of Donald J. Trump.

ONLY SOLUTION TO GWB MESS

IS TO DOUBLE TOLL TO $30

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

Angry Americans are no longer reading between the lines when President Trump speaks or tweets.

They know his outrageous claims are designed to deceive both his supporters and his far more numerous detractors.

In fact, Trump seems to have hypnotized all of those reporters who hang on his every word and eagerly publish or broadcast those lies.

More than a year after Trump's illegitimate presidency began, news media big and small prefer those infuriating sound bites and unchallenged quotes to pushing back forcefully against Trump and his surrogates.

The major networks devoted hours of coverage to Trump's lie fest -- his so-called State of the Union speech last Tuesday.

The blowhard complained Democrats stayed seated and didn't applaud. Good for them. 

He should be grateful none of them called him a liar, as a GOP congressman did when Barack Obama gave one of his State of the Union speeches.

It's long past time the news media start acting skeptically when Trump gives a scripted speech -- such as recording the speech, but only broadcasting excerpts, and with instant fact-checking.

See: Trump's Liar of the Union speech

Mueller probe

That ridiculous GOP memo about the FBI will only prompt Special Counsel Robert Mueller to work even harder to obtain guilty pleas and indictments in the probe of Russia's election interference and possible collusion with Trump associates.

The Record, my local daily newspaper, ran the Trump-Mueller confrontation on Page 11A of today's paper.

Menendez column

One of readers' biggest complaints about Mike Kelly is they often don't know where the veteran Record opinion columnist stands on the issue or subject he is writing about.

Kelly's celebration of Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., as a political "escape artist" is just another example of how the columnist has become little more than a space filler at the Gannett-owned paper (1A).

As usual, Kelly interviews political scientists and other so-called experts, but doesn't speak to a single Democratic voter about Menendez, who has avoided a second corruption trial after the first one ended in a hung jury.

Nor does Kelly mention Menendez might face a challenge at the polls in the primaries before the  mid-term elections in November.

He should have condemned New Jersey's senior senator for consorting with Dr. Salomon Melgen, a jet-setting fraudster who Menendez calls his close friend:

Democratic voters have no use for Menendez 

Jury should have found Menendez guilty

Raise toll to $30

The Record today continues extensive coverage of traffic woes in Leonia and other towns near the George Washington Bridge that are flooded with vehicles seeking short cuts around the growing  congestion.

Of course, the only real solution isn't mentioned in the Road Warrior column on today's Local front: 

The Port Authority must double the cash toll to $30 as an incentive for drivers to use mass transit or at least abandon their enormous gas-guzzling SUVs for car pools or gas-electric hybrids that get big toll discounts.

Leonia has blocked off side streets, but those restrictions are being challenged in court.

Gannett raises 7-day home-delivery price by $75 after big cuts to staff and local news

Two views of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand calling on President Trump to resign over sexual misconduct. Above, Jimmy Margulies, former editorial cartoonist at The Record of Woodland Park. Below, Adam Zyglis, staff cartoonist at The Buffalo News.

Trump is exposed as a male chauvinist pig. His tweet about Gillibrand was widely interpreted to imply she would trade sexual favors for campaign contributions.

WASHINGTON POST: TRUMP LEAVES

 RUSSIAN THREAT UNCHECKED

 -- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

A hashtag I've seen on Twitter -- #gannettruinedmypaper -- came to mind when I read a letter raising 7-day home delivery of The Record of Woodland Park to $180 a year.

That's about $75 more than the $1o4.40 I pay now (the new price is $15 a month, compared to $8.70 a month).

Rubbing salt into my wounds, the letter assumed I haven't noticed how much The Record has changed for the worse since the payroll-slashing Gannett Co. bought its publisher, North Jersey Media Group, in July 2016.

"Dear Victor,

"We know how much you appreciate receiving your subscription to The Record and the enjoyable reading experience it provides you every day.

"We are committed to providing you the daily printed reading experience you have enjoyed over the years, but we need your support.

"As of 1/1/2018, the rate for your subscription to The Record will be $15.00 per month (plus applicable taxes)."

The claim that "We need your support ..." sounds like all of those year-end appeals from charities flooding my mailbox.

Keep in mind that Gannett long ago ended the practice of replacing wet and undelivered papers, and no longer delivers papers held during a vacation.

And early this year, Gannett already raised the price of 7-day home delivery substantially.

This latest price hike is expected to result in numerous cancellations.

See: Readers denounce Gannett's corporate greed

Fewer staff, less news

Gannett laid off more than 350 employees of NJMG; reduced the news hole, especially in the Local section; and moved production out of state, resulting in numerous typos and other errors.

Meanwhile, readers still are burdened with three veteran columnists, Charles Stile, Mike Kelly and John Cichowski, who are nothing more than glorified, overpaid space fillers droning on and on and on like broken records.

For example, Kelly's front-page column today quotes Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., calling on President Trump to resign, citing numerous allegations of sexual misconduct against him before he became president.

Any journalist can quote a resignation call from Booker, a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, but I have to wonder why Kelly isn't using his own bully pulpit as a columnist to ask Trump to step down.

The likely reason is Kelly has been a persistent critic of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and can't see beyond politics.

Local news

In an economy move instituted by former Publisher Stephen A. Borg, The Record's combined Bergen County stories and features with those from Passaic and Morris counties into one local-news section.

After Gannett took over, the space for local news and feature stories was reduced even further.

In Saturday's Local section, Bergen readers saw no less than six Paterson stories, and a seventh from Wanaque.

There even was a long account from Morristown of all places.

Cartoonist Adam Zyglis commenting on the GOP tax-cut plan -- a $1.5 trillion giveaway to the wealthy at the expense of the middle class. When will Congress try to cut Medicare and Medicaid to pay for giving tax breaks to the super rich? 

Cartoonist Jimmy Margulies showing Russian dictator and Syrian war criminal Vladimir Putin shrugging off the 2018 Olympics ban. Putin says, "We still won the contest that really counts," a reference to the 2016 presidential election that put Trump in the White House.

'Hacking Democracy'

The Washington Post has published an investigation into Trump and Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election that concluded:

"Nearly a year into his presidency, Trump continues to reject the evidence that Russia waged an assault on a pillar of American democracy and supported his run for the White House.

"The result is without obvious parallel in U.S. history, a situation in which the personal insecurities of the president -- and his refusal to accept what many in his administration regard as objective reality -- have impaired the government's response to a national security threat.

"The repercussions radiate across the government."

See the full story: Hacking Democracy

The Record: Male editors made work, life miserable for only female news columnist

ABOVE AND BEYOND: This photo of onetime Record reporter Elaine D'Aurizio appeared on the sides of buses in northern New Jersey to promote her Above and Beyond column about the heroics of first responders. 

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

Editor's note: I've updated this post with mention of one of the biggest stories Elaine D'Aurizio worked on -- Dorothy Rapp using the battered-woman's defense after being charged with murder.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

Elaine D'Aurizio's last bylines as a reporter for The Record of Woodland Park appeared in 2010 over local news stories and traffic accidents.

They were a far cry from the column she wrote for about a decade, celebrating the heroics of first responders in northern New Jersey.

Her column, Above and Beyond, anticipated popular TV shows about firefighters and other first responders.

She was the first and so far the last woman to write a news column at The Record, where her career spanned more than 30 years.

Previously, she worked in the features department of the Herald-News.

D'Aurizio, who lived alone in Wayne, died last Wednesday, and was laid to rest on Saturday after a funeral Mass at a Roman Catholic church in Wayne. She was 76.

Stripped of column

Francis "Frank" Scandale, who was editor of The Record at the time, took away Elaine's column, as well as the only columns written by Hispanic and black staffers.

She was demoted to reporter, and her annual salary was slashed by $10,000.

In March 2011, the Eye on The Record blog reported on a pattern that developed in the newsroom under then-Publisher Stephen A. Borg:

Editors do their best to screw old people

Do-nothing reporters, editors remain on staff

Health deteriorates

The demotion and pay cut were bad enough, but as Elaine's health deteriorated, male newsroom editors started playing hardball.

Elaine had myasthenia gravis, which is characterized by weakness and rapid fatigue of any of the muscles under your voluntary control, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Her vision was affected, and she had difficulty driving at night.

Still, Frank Burgos, who was managing editor under Scandale, threatened to fire her unless she returned to work from disability leave.

And when she did return, she was assigned to cover council meetings, even though she had difficulty driving at night.

James McGarvey and Claude Deltieure, two other editors, also mistreated her, former staffers say. 

After she left The Record, she stopped driving altogether.

She 'wrote with heart'

After visiting hours at Moore's Home for Funerals in Wayne on Friday, a former Record staffer had this to say:

"Nice to see a good number of former colleagues paying their respects to Elaine D'Aurizio.  Elaine was a throwback -- a hardworking, no-nonsense, gumshoe reporter who wrote with heart, and kept at it well past the traditional retirement age. Her Above and Beyond column paid tribute to first responders and other heroes. Elaine was one of the Record's legendary characters -- and a wonderful person, too." 

Virginia Rohan of Ringwood, another former newsroom staffer, wrote in the funeral home's guestbook:

"Rest In Peace, Elaine. A great lady and a great reporter, who did so many great columns and stories. But it's a funny one that I particularly remember, because you had us in stitches recalling your time riding around Hoboken in a limo -- with Fabio!"

Another tribute came from Ellen O'Brien:

"Elaine was a beautiful and generous person. I worked with her at The Record for several years and I was always impressed by her hard work, humor, and passionate engagement with life. And she covered her beat like nobody's business.... May she dance with the angels this day and always." 

Attorneys Kevin G. Roe, left, and Frank P. Lucianna flanking murder defendant Dorothy Rapp in Superior Court in Hackensack (photo from the office of Kevin G. Roe).

Dorothy Rapp 

Elaine knocked herself out on many of the stories and columns she worked on, but her profile of Dorothy Rapp stands out.

Mrs. Rapp was represented by attorney Frank P. Lucianna of Hackensack after she was arrested on charges that she murdered her husband in their Fair Lawn home.

Here is how attorney Kevin G. Roe, Lucianna's law clerk at the time, tells it:

"On March 26, 1981, Dorothy Rapp was pulled from her bed and mercilessly beaten. Her assailant was her husband who ripped clumps of hair from her head and threatened her life, allegedly because she did not complete a household task. Ms. Rapp then shot and killed her husband. She was subsequently charged with murder.

"At trial, Hackensack attorney Frank P. Lucianna introduced evidence showing that Ms. Rapp was the victim of a decades-long abusive relationship, and that the trauma she experienced that night was not unlike many other nights in her marriage.

"He was assisted by his law clerk, Kevin G. Roe, who conducted research of cases nationwide and authored a brief demonstrating that the defense of battered-woman syndrome should be allowed at trial.

"For the first time in the State of New Jersey, [Superior Court Judge Fred C. Galda] allowed the so-called battered-woman’s defense, in which a victim of domestic violence who suffers from a long term-pattern of abuse may claim self-defense when it is apparent that person is unable effectively escape.

"After deliberating for two hours, a jury acquitted Ms. Rapp of murder. The case stands as a landmark in New Jersey law and the law of self-defense."

More Gannett cuts

Gannett Co., owner of USA Today, The Record and 108 other local news outlets, will undergo another corporate restructuring that will result in the elimination of "less than 1%" of employees, USA Today reported on Wednesday.

A decline in revenue from print advertising was cited.

Gannett employed 17,100 in the United States and 3,900 outside the country, so the reduction could result in the loss of about 210 jobs, USA Today reported.

It's not known whether any of the new cuts will be made at The Record.

Gannett cut more than 350 jobs at North Jersey Media Group, publisher of The Record and Herald News, after buying the publishing company from the Borg family in July 2016.

Record columnists

Fewer columns by Mike Kelly and John Cichowski have been appearing in the print edition. 

Two Kelly columns on 9/11 appear today on the front page and Opinion front in anticipation of Monday's 16th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America.

They are the first since Aug. 20, when Kelly's column appeared under this headline:

"So, who is the United States

 fighting this week?"

On Aug. 24, Cichowski, the so-called commuting columnist, wrote about a doomed legislative proposal to train parents to teach their teenagers how to drive.

Bill Ervolino

Meanwhile, Bill Ervolino was assigned to write a tribute to Jerry Lewis after the comedian died last month, but the veteran columnist couldn't resist making it all about himself.

On Aug. 21, in his lead paragraphs on Page 1 of The Record, Ervolino recalled he prepared to interview Lewis in 1988 by watching a dozen or so of his films and hours of his TV show.

But the comic genius (Lewis, not Ervolino) cancelled the day before. 

Nearly 30 years later, Ervolino still can't get over that.

With Gannett in charge, Record readers are ones sweating out a 'Summer of Hell'

Cartoonist Bill Day throws cold water on denials by Dictator Vladimir Putin that Russia didn't interfere in the Nov. 8 election to help Donald J. Trump get elected president. See more of his cartoons at PoliticalCartoons.com.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

Let's cut to the chase:

Extensive track work in New York's Penn Station began Monday, but delays for NJ Transit commuters didn't approach the many "Summer of Hell" predictions by editors, reporters and columnists at The Record of Woodland Park.

In fact, the doomsday headlines, stories and columns that started appearing more than a week ago turned out to be greatly exaggerated.

One possible reason Monday's commute wasn't a complete disaster is that July is a prime vacation month, and there may be far fewer North Jersey residents commuting into the city every day.

Driver oriented

Still, the Woodland Park daily hasn't paid this much attention to NJ Transit's rail operations in years.

In the past decade, transportation reporters and columnist were far too lazy, refusing to ride NJ Transit trains and buses and report on deteriorating service:

Rail and bus riders couldn't find rush-hour seats in the morning, and delays for commuters catching buses home reached crisis proportions.

As far as John Cichowski, The Record's so-called commuting columnist, was concerned, those commuters could just go to hell.

He was far too busy writing about monster potholes, confusing road signs, long lines at the Motor Vehicle Commission and other columns aimed only at drivers.

Maybe those columns were payback to all of the auto dealers and manufacturers whose ad revenue keeps the newspaper afloat.

Christie cuts

The New York Times -- not The Record -- was the first to report Governor Christie cut state subsidies to the state's mass transit agency by more than 90 percent.

That forced a fare hike and service cuts, and delayed rail-safety equipment that could have prevented a fatal crash in NJ Transit's Hoboken terminal last September.

See: A cautionary tale of neglect

Christie's first blow against mass transit -- unilaterally killing work on two Hudson River rail tunnels in 2010 -- became a he said/she said story on whether New Jersey would get socked with cost overruns.

The GOP thug also nearly bankrupted the state Transportation Trust Fund, which finances road, bridge and rail improvements. 

'Summer of Hell' 

The first Page 1 story equating $40 million in track work in New York's Penn Station with doomsday for commuters ran on July 2.

A news story by Staff Writer Abbott Koloff ran under these headlines:

"NJ Transit, commuters

brace for rough ride"

"Penn Station project

has folks scrambling"

That was followed the next day, July 3, with a second news story, and a rare column on mass transit by John Cichowski, aka The Road Warrior, who invoked "musical chairs."

"North Jersey commuters faced

with options, none of them great"

"Tune up for musical chairs

 on commute"

In another front-page story on Saturday, Editor Richard A. Green revisited the track repair project after the derailment of an NJ Transit train:

"Work on tracks

begins Monday"

The next day, Sunday, more than half of the front page was covered with two stories on the "difficult underground work" and the "political divisions" behind failures at Penn Station.

The all-caps headline:

"TROUBLE ON THE TRACKS"

The first "Summer of Hell" reference appeared on Monday in the headline over another Cichowski column.

In case you missed that, "Summer of Hell" appears again on Page 1 today in the awkward headline over a Mike Kelly column:

"'Summer of Hell' 

luckily misses that mark"

Equally awkward and just as baffling is the headline over the main news story on today's front page:

"MANY COMMUTES

AVOID THE CHAOS"

Commuters can avoid chaos, but not "commutes." Similarly, "Summer of Hell" can't miss a mark.

On the Local front today, another news story and column pull back from the doomsday predictions that have been running for more than a week:

"IT COULD BE WORSE"

"Buses offer

some value

over trains"

Gannett Co. laid off more than 350 employees at North Jersey Media Group, and that precipitated a decline in accuracy, as well as the quality of writing and editing, headlines and photo captions. 

Clearly, it's readers of The Record that are in for a "Summer of Hell."

Readers hit 'corporate greed' at Gannett

Ex-staffers cried in their beer at Clifton pub