The Reading Eagle had a rare environmental story today, on Page A11, about how bad the air we're breathing in Berks is.
The print-version headline said “Berks earns ‘D’ in report
on air quality; up from ‘F.’ ”
The web-site version said “State of the Air Report offers
mixed bags for Berks, region.”
I guess a business-friendly editor gave the order – tone down
the bad news about Berks.
The article says: “Berks was the only county in the study to
have a worse result in year-round particle pollution, dropping very slightly
from last year's score. And Berks had the biggest drop [in grade] of all the
counties in short-term particle pollution, falling from a ‘C’ to an ‘F.’ ”
The story then quotes a doctor saying air pollution is bad for
people – duh!
But it doesn't say why Berks’ air is getting
worse.
Did you know the state Department of Environmental Protection has deep data on ozone days and particulates – the cancer-causing dust that lodges deep in your lungs?
Did you know landfills and battery manufacturers are big
contributors to air pollution? And Berks has a lot of both.
Why not ask the Berks County Chamber of Commerce what they
think about Berks’ air being so polluted, and about regulations to reduce it?
Instead, the Eagle sent two – two! – of its award-winning
reporters to Baltimore along with half of North America’s press herd to report
on things we read about on the Internet 12 hours earlier.
Maybe the Eagle’s reporters could spend a day or two
investigating the decline of air quality in Berks. Might even qualify for a
journalism award.
But truth and a better quality of life are not the goals of
Berks County’s pseudo-newspaper.
Sensational front-page headlines and pleasing the
Establishment are.
Berks County needs better journalism.
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