Friday, January 23, 2015

We need news about Berks County, not Harrisburg, in Berks

The Reading Eagle is all about Harrisburg on Friday. The problem is we need more news about Reading, not state government. 

And as usual, the local paper misses the real story – Kathleen Kane is turning into Michael Jackson.


Many fine reporters are telling us what’s going on in Harrisburg. We need the Reading Eagle to release its many fine reporters on our city, where the stories are that affect Berks County. A few jump quickly to mind:




  • How are the local political machines recruiting candidates for Reading mayor? So far I’m not impressed.
  • What is going on with the buildings on Penn Street that the city bought last year? What’s Boscov going to do with them?
  • How many houses did Boscov’s Our City Reading renovate in 2014? How many did he sell? How much did it all cost? Where did the money come from? Is that scatter-shot approach the best way to do community development?
  • What is the new school superintendent doing to get parents more involved?
  • What is going on with the district’s alternative school, which will produce criminals if not run properly?
  • How is the I-LEAD charter school doing? How much does it cost the district?
  • How do Reading schools teach Spanish speakers? Is it effective?
  • What's up with the community health center planned for Oakbrook? Do any doctors in the city take Medicaid patients?

The clueless Eagle editors might wonder why cover the city. The people there don’t vote much, don’t buy much and certainly don’t read the Reading Eagle.

But it’s the most important news for all of us in Berks. While the rising national economy and new love for urban living are letting Allentown and Lancaster and many other cities take flight, Reading is the millstone dragging Berks down.

How to change that depends on knowledge and information and insight, but we’re not getting any from the Reading Eagle. We need better journalism to make things better here.

No comments:

Post a Comment