The Record

Alfred Doblin, the editorial page editor and columnist for The Record, was offended by former U.S. Sen. Bob Torricelli's PolitickerNJ.com Op-Ed that sharply criticized his newspaper.

"Being lectured on meanness by the likes of Bob Torricelli is akin to Amy Winehouse leading a rehab retreat for substance abusers," Doblin wrote.  CLICK HERE TO READ DOBLIN'S COLUMN

Former U.S. Sen. Bob Torricelli says The Record is dead
The Record announced yesterday that it was closing its Hackensack offices and "reinventing"itself. It was actually announcing its own death without the benefit of the Obit page.

It reminded me of the death of an aging uncle. You felt badly because of the loss but you remembered all of the times that he kicked the dog and yelled at the kids.

It's a death march that started long ago. A generation ago, the Record was the Bible for suburban living in Bergen County. Every local football game, road closing and store opening filled its pages. It was "A Friend of the People it Serves". Somewhere it all fell apart.

It's easy to dismiss its death as an evitable result of changes in technology. The Internet will eventually destroy most newspapers but the looming death of the Record is still ahead of its time. Bergen County has among the best demographics in the United States. Incomes are high, educational levels are good and there's a real sense of local community. Available advertising from retailers may be the best in the nation.

It has everything that the Ledger, Inquirer and a dozen other papers lack. They'll survive another decade or two while the Record will be gone in a matter of a few years. Why?

Congratulations to The Record’s Jeff Pillets, John Brennan and Tim Nostrand, whose stories on the Encap development plan at the Meadowlands has been named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting.   The nomination was "for their probe of how plans to build a luxury community atop old landfills became entangled in questionable state loans and other allegations of favoritism."

Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney, a Democrat, has proposed some regionalization of local government services, which prompted The Record to run a pair of Op-Ed items from small-town Mayors who oppose the possible challenge to their home rule.  Should the newspaper have noted that both the Mayors -- Sophie Heymann of Closter and George Fosdick of Ridgefield Park -- are registered Republicans?

Which Democratic presidential candidate is the real “agent of change”? 

That was the topic of The Record’s Charles Stile’s column on Tuesday.

In his political column previewing last night’s Hillary Clinton for President fundraiser organized by Bergen County Democrat Chair Joe Ferriero, Stile questioned the legitimacy of Clinton’s reform message.