Important facts are missing in Reading Eagle stories

What awful reporting Friday in the Reading Eagle about the 16 drug arrests in Reading. 

The paper doesn’t even say what kind of drugs were involved. Wait a minute, were any drugs even involved? It’s not clear. Were people arrested just because they wanted to buy drugs? Heroin or pot? Why not ask the police what’s going on? Maybe the headline should have been “City cops arrest 16 on drug charges; no drugs involved.”

Are Eagle reporters ever asked to go beyond the formula of another drug-bust story and think about the public ramifications? Would they ever ask the police chief (who is accessible and helpful in my experience) to explain the city's “war on drugs” strategy? 

Is the paper -- and its readers -- satisfied with getting this kind of sparse information from the crimefighters?

Lots of arrests, new people in the criminal-justice system perhaps – but what was the crime?

Why not ask the people with uniforms and guns to account for their actions? Or is it too simple -- “police=good, drug users=bad”-- to explain to readers?

Heroin is a lot different than pot. Perhaps Berks County’s news monopoly is stuck in the “reefer madness” days when all drugs are equally pernicious, so the public doesn’t need to know what substance is involved. 

And what about the story that state AuditorGeneral Eugene DePasquale was visiting Reading to speak about the Reading School District.

Want to go see him?

The paper fails to say when or where he spoke.

“Friday, he'll share his concerns with the Reading community.

“DePasquale will be in town to speak publicly about the district's progress in implementing the 17 recommendations included in an audit of the district that was unveiled in May.”