Bob Torricelli is Mad at the Big, 'Mean' Bergen Record
Bob Torricelli, the former senator from New Jersey who didn't seek re-election after his first term because, well, we know why!, has an interesting view of the reason The Record of Bergen County is having trouble, and it's not, he thinks, the troubled newspaper industry in general. News that the newspaper recently had to close its Hackensack office seemed to delight him because, as he wrote in his column on PolitickerNJ, "somewhere the Record stopped becoming a mirror of the happy suburban life and it became mean."
He's no media expert--although he may be an expert on the Record after all the ink the newspaper gave him back in 2002--but he gives the newspaper 10 years to live. Without irony, he writes:
I won't be shedding any tears for the Record. Bergen County will be a better place without it but I regret what it did to itself. It didn't have to be.
Words apt for many occasions, we suppose.
When did we become such an unforgiving people?
When did we become such an unforgiving people?
I certainly believe that the Record lives up to its old nickname of "River Street Rag," and hope the Borg family will do what it takes to improve it rather than let it suffer a slow, languid death. At the same time, however, even the most mediocre newspaper on earth can't help but attempt to live up to its membership of the Fourth Estate.
To wit: We all know NJ politicians are infamous for putting their hands in the cookie jar. Why is ex-Senator Torricelli so annoyed? Is it really because the Record is so vindictive? Or is it a case of simply getting caught at something unethical? We do know he portrayed himself as ethical, beyond reproach, etc. during a long political career in our fair state.
Seems more like it that the Record simply did its job by reporting what should in theory be a matter of public record in an ideal political landscape. Since anyone who serves in public office is not held up to the same sense of "privacy standards" as us Joe Lunchbucket types, I find it shocking that Mr. Torricelli should blame someone else for pointing out a mistake he should not have made in the first place. Face it: violations of the public trust are by definition public.
So I send a begrudging thanks to Mr. Borg and friends for actually doing what much better papers elsewhere wouldn't even bat an eye to accomplish...Keeping public figures liable to public scrutiny as a matter of "record."
The Record is indeed a poor paper. Perhaps confused is more like it. It's sort of a wannabe NY Times without the talent. At times it does remarkably good work, see the EnCap exposes.... But day to day coverage is spotty. The reporters are inexperienced and often biased. They can't seem to tell a straight story. the paper has waffled from a billboard for mostly Democratic politicians, to a reformers pamphlet....but mostly the paper is out of touch with the people in Bergen County and uncritical of those it likes. And the web site is a joke.
All that said Torricelli is the last one to be givinglectures on journalism or, for that matter, about the needs and desires of Bergen County. He used his office to help himself, got burned and is apparently not yet over it. Too Bad Bob. Move on.
Any paper that's a mirror of "happy suburban life" wouldn't be doing its job as a watchdog. Who knows how much more Torricelli would have gotten away with had The Record and other Jersey papers failed in that regard.
The Record isn't the NY Times and doesn't try to be. But it is a fine local paper, especially when stacked up against other newsrooms of similar size. Note the two Record reporters who were finalists for a Pulitzer Prize this year.
Bob Torricelli should thank his lucky stars each day he wakes up and is not doing a long stretch in prison.
Since another comment has said that THE RECORD was trying to be another NYT with less talent, former Sen Toracelli's prediction & hope that THE RECORD will fold in 10 years could come true. The NYT, itself, is dying. The NYT's staff isn't so hot. Mr Murdoch is turning the WSJ into a general interest sheet & vows to drive the NYT into folding.
Mr Murdoch & market forces will kill the NYT. Market forces will kill THE RECORD.
Torricelli is a disagrace; he makes McGreevey look like Abraham Lincoln. Has there been a more embarrassing resignation speech? For Christ's sake, even Dick Nixon managed an air of contrition and humility, but not Toricelli! Instead of falling on the sword and repeating the time-honored litany, the douchebag actually blamed the people for his ouster, accusing them of being unforgiving!
*disgrace
The Record lives up to the standards of the 4th Estate. It reports on corruption, no matter what the source. It seems that not only politicians hate the Record but cops hate it too. Is it because the Record has the balls to report on wrong doing? You bet!! Long live the Record.
Good Bye!! The paper sucks and those who read it or castigates its critics are as simple as those who write for it.
I need to revise my list: New Jersey voters are bigger idiots than New York voters. My apologies to New Yorkers.
Toricelli? What a piece of vermin. Only in NJ could such a crook have been elected.
What else to expect from a state that doesn't even let you pump your own gasoline?
Suckers.
I live in Bergen County, like the Torch and the Record about equally, which is most but not all of the time. It's tough for any media to thrive in NJ because we are swamped by NYC media. So the Record isn't as good as the NY Times? No kidding. But then again, what is?
Hey, one more thing. John, you've got six commas in your first sentence. What's up with that dude?