'The Record' Reviewing Mileage Policy as 'MOJOs' Increase

By: Joe Strupp As The Record of Hackensack, N.J. prepares to vacate its home some time in 2009 -- and send many more newsroom staffers out as "mobile journalists" or MOJOs-- the paper's parent company is also reviewing its mileage reimbursement policies following the firing of two weekly newspaper employees for mileage fraud.

As more staffers take on the "MOJO" approach, the likelihood of increased reimbursements has already become an issue, according to Jennifer Borg, vice-president/general counsel of North Jersey Media Group, which owns The Record, Herald News of West Paterson and several weeklies.

Following an inquiry from E&P, Borg issued a statement confirming two employees had been dismissed for abusing the mileage policy, while others have been warned not to submit reimbursements for travel to and from work.

"There have been only two recent instances of NJMG employees being dismissed for deliberate mileage fraud. These were isolated incidents; the two people worked in different areas of the Weekly Division. We cannot comment further on individual personnel matters," her statement said. "The company has issued warnings to several employees for improper mileage reporting ? failure to follow directions and policy. In many of these instances, employees were seeking reimbursement for miles traveled to and from work, even though such reimbursements are not allowed by either IRS regulations or Company policy.

"We are currently revising our mileage policy for greater clarity. At the same time, we will be looking into whether the MOJO set-up requires changing the policy. We expect MOJOs to submit more mileage for reimbursement as they travel from story to story and report live from the field. We want to see if there are other issues that affect the policy."

While she noted that travel to work cannot be reimbursed, Borg said the expected relocation of Record offices to the Herald News headquarters in West Paterson will actually reduce commuting time for most employees.

Borg and other officials at North Jersey Media Group had no more specifics on when a move would occur. Company officials revealed last year they were seeking to sell the Hackensack site and have already increased the use of mobile journalists.