Recalling the Glory Days of The Hudson Dispatch

HOBOKEN— SURROUNDING a long table at a bar here, 20 journalists were laughing, drinking and telling tales of the old days with a frenzied and sometimes somber energy.

They remembered when they were a group of young idealists working for a small morning newspaper in Hudson County -- and to them that experience seemed on a par with attending the best journalism school.

The paper, based in Union City, was The Hudson Dispatch, in an area with enough corruption, crime, fires and colorful personalities to keep a reporter busy writing three articles a day.

Recently this group, representing a large portion of the paper's staff from 1978 to 1981, gathered to reminisce about their glory days. The journalists hadn't seen one another since working there. They held the reunion because on April 5, 1991, The Hudson Dispatch closed after operating for 117 years. Not the Hoboken They Remember

The former Dispatch reporters returned to their old stomping grounds for one night, but it wasn't the Hoboken they remembered. Once a blue-collar town with live poultry shops and dingy taverns, it is today filled with gourmet shops and condominiums with bright brass fixtures and polished wood like that in the bar where the reunion took place.

But the rougher days of suspicious fires related to real-estate scandals didn't seem distant in the minds of these journalists. Diane Goldie, now assistant international-national editor for The Rocky Mountain News, spoke about going to a fire and watching a fireman die at her feet. Young, inexperienced and distraught, she told the publisher, Richard Vezza, that she couldn't write the piece.

"Any other place would have fired me," she said. "Vezza told me I had to write the story. I learned fast."

Ms. Goldie fondly recalled The Dispatch of that time: "It had a good spirit. A lot of places don't have that kind of energy. I think the days of places like The Dispatch are gone. Today papers are run by businessmen, not journalists. I feel fortunate to have gone through that experience."

Paul Moses, now a religion writer for Newsday, remembered working on articles that he believed helped bring a Federal investigation against the Mayor of Union City, William V. Musto, who was also a Democratic State Senator at the time.

The articles showed a connection between Mr. Musto and organized crime that led to his conviction on charges of wire fraud, racketeering and extortion along with seven other co-defendants in 1982. They were charged with extorting more than $500,000 from a mob-controlled construction company.

Mr. Musto was one of the most colorful personalities in the county. One day after his conviction, he was re-elected as Mayor of Union City. Word 'Passion' Used a Lot

The reporters spoke often about their sense of comradeship and ability to get the job done. They used the word "passion" a lot when talking about the paper.

Mr. Vezza is now president of the North Jersey Newspaper Company, a subsidiary of the Media News Group, a Houston-based chain that owned The Hudson Dispatch when it was sold in April for about $8 million.

In a written statement the day the paper closed, Mr. Vezza cited declining advertising revenue, increasing costs and few prospects for financial improvement. In 1980 The Dispatch had a circulation of 39,132. When its main competitor, The Jersey Journal, bought the newspaper's name and circulation list, The Dispatch had a circulation of 30,584, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation.

The Jersey Journal, part of the Newhouse Newspapers chain, currently publishes a paper using both The Journal's logo and The Dispatch's on the cover. A few inside pages are dedicated to the Dispatch type of coverage in editions that are distributed in Hoboken, Union City, West New York, North Bergen, Secaucus, Weehawken and part of southeast Bergen County.

One reporter, Roy Kahn, now a freelance writer based in Washington, described what he called his "tour of duty" with the paper in the late 70's.

"The soul of The Dispatch had a passion for doing in the bad government," Mr. Kahn said. "The politics around here were unbelievable. And it felt good when our investigative pieces turned into indictments. The Dispatch would stand for truth, justice and good reporting." Bought Their Own Notebooks

Mr. Kahn's comments and others' at the party reflected a quote from Thomas Jefferson that appeared under the paper's masthead on the editorial page: "We are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, not to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it."

Times were tough; the pay was low, the hours were long and staff members had to buy their own reporter's notebooks. But Jeff Berkoe, now with Reuters, said: "It was the best job I ever had. We all looked out for each other. People will suffer now that it closed. When there's only one paper, there's no competition to keep you honest."

John Ensslin, a reporter now working for The Rocky Mountain News, said he got a job at The Dispatch right out of college. He said he was told that he could start working if he had a car. He lied. When he was told to cover a fire, he had to beg a cab driver to take him there even though he couldn't pay the fare.

"I told the guy I would pay him after I received my first paycheck, and he took me," Mr. Ensslin said. "I figured I'd pick up a car later and I wouldn't really need it the first week." A Missing 69¦ Battery

Mr. Ensslin recalled an article in the paper that revealed a missing 69-cent battery in a respirator at the Jersey City Medical Center, causing irreversible brain damage to an elderly patient. The article stood out in his mind as an example of the kind of work done at The Dispatch.

Susan DeSantis, now an assistant editor for The Asbury Park Press, said one of her biggest stories at The Dispatch was when she was working at its City Hall office in Jersey City. She was talking on the phone to an editor when she said, "I can't talk now, but I think City Hall is on fire." She remembers writing the whole front page that day, and she also remembers seeing the burned shoes she left behind in her escape.

Richard Remington, now a reporter with The Star-Ledger of Newark, said: "It was a great newspaper to start at. There was so much corruption, it was just a matter of finding it. At the time there was a lot going on with the Cuban community, with Omega Seven and the teamsters' union. Nowhere did you get such a microcosm of life in one place. The closing of the paper will leave a void. It was one of a kind."