Katz Fight: Carla vs. Josh

Politics has changed over the last forty years.

On the weekend before the 1967 mid-term legislative elections, New Jersey U.S. Senator Clifford Case, the ranking Minority member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced his opposition to the war in Vietnam at a campaign event in East Paterson (now Elmwood Park.)

But the big story on the weekend before the 2007 election – at least among political insiders – is the fight between CWA President Carla Katz and Star-Ledger reporter Josh Margolin.  (Katz and Margolin are both in the Top Ten on PoliticsNJ.com’s Power List.)

Look at the latest post on the Katz blog:

Josh Margolin has got it bad. It seems like he's downright obsessed. In truth, he should be obsessed with Oprah Winfrey (or her diligent staffers anyway). For months, Josh has had it in his head that I had him thrown out of the Oprah Show taping of McGreevey's "Confessions" book segment and he just can't seem to get past it.

First of all, it's just not true. Hey, but why let truth get in the way of a good grudge?

Second, considering that the Oprah audience is almost completely female, The Star-Ledger might have sent a woman instead to break the show's "no press allowed" rule and at least blend in. At a minimum, he could have worn a wig.

Third, the Oprah folks had a list of press and legitimately wanted to maintain the exclusivity of her show, which tapes days before it airs. Darn them. They looked for him, found him and they kicked him out. So, Josh, get over it.

Not that his "grudge" has anything to do with it but Josh seems willing to write a story from pretty much any shred of alleged "news" anyone sends him - if it's about me.

Try it. Send him a note that you've seen me and Paris hanging out in Hoboken. Or email him a letter you've sent to the president of the United States asking for unions to be banned since Katz had a relationship with Corzine and that must be against public policy, some law, somehow. He'll be all over it.

That's not to knock Josh's journalistic integrity. He's got a Pulitzer on his mantle after all. Someone recently compared him to a "terrier" with a story. I was thinking of animals with much sharper teeth.

But seriously, no other union leader's or union's internal local drama (and trust me, we all have internal drama) gets consistently and continuously plastered across the pages of the Ledger, almost all with Josh's byline.

It is more than slightly disconcerting to see the comparatively normal internal drama of our local covered in the paper with the same intensity of the Yankees recent quest for a new manager.

So, I was thinking that if the Ledger is going to write soooooo much about me and the Local that I should even the playing field and, well, write about Josh. The Josh chronicles. I hear from Tom Shea that Josh is a pretty funny guy so this shouldn't bother him at all.

So folks, send me your best Josh Margolin stories. I'll keep them anonymous unless they are Pulitzer material. And I promise, I won't hold a grudge.