Record and Ledger combine State House bureau

by: Jason Springer

Sat Feb 21, 2009 at 02:24:26 PM EST

Two state house bureaus became one on Friday with the merging of operations between the Star Ledger and The Record of Bergen County. The editors tried to put a positive spin on the move:

The editors said the new arrangement made sense in an age when budget cuts, even before the current recession, have forced newspapers around the country to dramatically reduce reporting staffs. In December, several Star-Ledger reporters left the Trenton bureau as part of a sweeping buyout program.
"At a time when newspapers have had to cut back news staffs, this cooperation allows us to pool resources and better serve all our readers," said Jim Willse, the editor of The Star-Ledger, in a prepared statement.
Frank Scandale, editor of The Record, said, "Sharing coverage while maintaining two distinct news operations is a common-sense response to the changing media landscape."

While they may be recognizing the economic realities, HardnewsNJ reminds us just how many cuts have occurred to state house coverage recently:

While the move creates the largest Statehouse bureau in the nation, it further reduces the competition on Press Row that once drove coverage of state government news.
The Ledger and The Trenton Times, both owned by the Newhouse family, had previously combined their Statehouse bureaus. The New York Times recently shut its three-person bureau. Gannett, which owns the Asbury Park Press, The Courier Post, The Home News Tribune and The Courier News, reduced its Statehouse bureau to two from six.

Both of the papers were already doing with less. I hope they are able to continue the coverage they still provide without even more cuts in the future. This is an unfortunate reality that readers don't have much choice but to accept. I wish the new combined operation luck. It's kind of important that the people are able to know what their government is doing.

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A Child's Stigma

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The Chris Christie love fest continues

by: Jason Springer

Mon Nov 24, 2008 at 01:29:22 PM EST

I think the Star Ledger Auditor column said it best:

It seems U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie has become the political equivalent of the popular girl everyone wants to take to the prom.

Well I don't know about the prom dress, but the NJ media seems to drool at the sound of Christie's name just as Pavlov's dog would upon hearing the bell. How about we take a sampling of articles since Christie announced his resignation:

Christie proved himself a man of conviction
Mr. Christie to the rescue?
Is it Christie's time?
Christie Gives Notice, and G.O.P. Gains Hope
An impressive resume
U.S. Attorney Steps Down in New Jersey, With a Record Disproving Early Critics
No easy road for Christie (Don't let the headline mislead you here. The APP says that Christie has been a godsend as U.S. attorney and that he could be a transformative governor.)

And Barack Obama was the celebrity who could do no wrong? These recent headlines say nothing about the stealth campaign for Governor the NJ media has helped Christie carry out for the past few years. It has become an acceptable joke that the non-partisan US Attorney has had extremely close associates and family members around him for years planning his run for partisan office. Oh don't forget the ever reliable Asbury Park Press who takes a poll showing Governor Corzine leading Christie in a potential matchup as a chance to slam the Governor with this headline:

Poll: Corzine doesn't deserve re-election

Actually, that number is virtually unchanged since February, so it's not really very newsy unless you are trying to continue your own theme. In that poll story, it doesn't even appear until the fourth paragraph yet someone thought it made a great headline. Reporters Rountable offered a preview of the 2009 Gubenatorial landscape:

Note to the media: We know you love Chris Christie, thanks for the constant reminders. Maybe you can actually acknowledge that Christie's own party isn't completely sold on him yet and cover the primary before you swear him in and have him "measuring the drapes at Drumthwacket."

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US Senate newspaper endorsements

by: Scott Weingart

Mon Jun 02, 2008 at 10:10:58 AM EDT

So far, at least nine papers have published endorsements in the Democratic US Senate primary, and at least seven have endorsed in the Republican primary.

Paper Democratic Republican

Jersey Journal Andrews

Courier Post (Cherry Hill) Andrews Zimmer

New York Times Lautenberg Zimmer

Star Ledger Andrews Zimmer

Philadelphia Inquirer Andrews Zimmer

Gloucester County Times Andrews

Bergen Record Lautenberg Zimmer

Herald News (Passaic County) Lautenberg Zimmer

Daily Record (Morris County) Andrews Pennacchio

If you know of any endorsements that we're missing, post them in the comments and we'll add them to the table.

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Who is Michael Wildes? Cid Wilson? Ken Zisa (Kenny won't be difficult)

by: lsanchez490

Wed Jan 24, 2007 at 03:34:39 AM EST

(Shaping up to be an important primary. - promoted by Xpatriated Texan)

I will assume that for most readers of bluejersey very little need (needs to) be said about Ken Zisa. What follows is a basic introduction to Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes and Cid D. Wilson of Leonia.

To speak of Wildes I must talk about Englewood's historical mayoral election this past November. I keep using the word historical a lot. But this is just the nature of the monumentally epic District 37. To his credit, I can say that Michael Wildes is not shy about his ambitions. He has his eyes on the New Jersey Legislature. These are all merely stepping stones to his march (I guess) to Washington. Just take a look at the following website:

Michael Wildes for Congress

I guess one must respect Michael for fantasizing to be more than just the Mayor of Englewood. After all, he is no longer 'boy wonder' and must be painfully conscious of the looming and dreaded 'has been' status. He has goals and a vision for his future. We must all have goals and a vision for our future. For further reading I will include some memorable bits that Englewoodians enjoyed during the Wildes v. Stern matchup.
To be fair, I must include a link to Dr. Stern's website.

Bob Stern for Mayor

For those of you looking for a multimedia experience, try the following links:

Meet the Real Michael Wildes

Inside the Mind of Michael Wildes

and one more...

Vote Against Scare Tactics

As far as Mr. Wilson is concerned, I will have to confess that as a Latin American Democrat, I do not know what to make of Mr. Wilson and his decision to add his name to that of Kenny and Michael. I will provide some links with basic biographical information on Mr. Wilson. I do not know anything about his politics. But I will say that he has a most impressive resume. And were his name not attached to that of Zisa and Wildes, I would have to be very impressed by a Dominican-American Latin American success story. But the fact that he has lent his name to complete the Ferriero-crat Triumvirate tears me to pieces.

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