No this is not in a developing country but a natural disaster in Berks County

by Steve Reinbrecht

I bet no streets in any city are supposed to flood like this, causing so much danger and damage. And the newspaper reporter didn't even ask any city official in charge of storm sewers why this happened. A quick inch of rain isn't unusual here. 

Reporters fill the pages with words, but don't answer basic questions: Were any homes flooded? Why did this happen? Is it somebody's fault? Does this happen every time it rains? Are there new conditions somewhere? Is anybody trying to solve the problem? 

It doesn't have to lead to a 10-page award-winning megaturd. Just basic Journalism 101 questions.

WFMZ’s story has this explanation: “It was a case of too much too fast.”

But then a bit of interest, though the reporter also failed to follow up: “Crews found that trash was their biggest enemy in allowing the water to drain properly.”

Here is a real news story about human suffering, but we won't get more than the most superficial account. 

Young black man is victim of Reading Eagle’s sensationalism

by Steve Reinbrecht

This sensationalism by our pseudo-newspaper borders on the criminal. It is another example of how the Reading Eagle is obviously run by editors clueless about news judgment and ethics. They do what they are told and seek to sell papers to keep their cushy jobs.

Which is going to hurt this guy’s life more – smoking pot at college or this story, that proudly reaches 114,000 readers?

Is the Eagle keeping track of all former athletes, and will it publish their photos every time they commit misdemeanors?

Or is this such a rare occurrence it deserves a 500-word story?

Or is this pretty much a lynching?

“Former standout athlete at Schuylkill Valley High School faces drug-possession charges”

The headline shows that the Eagle is so trapped in the Drug War sensibility that it still lumps all recreational substances in the same category, even with “pot” such a good headline word, and all its award-winning work on heroin addiction. 

The cops, who apparently got a warrant after smelling smoke, didn’t even find any pot on him. “Police found a marijuana grinder with pot residue in a laundry basket in Yarde's room.”

It was in Indiana, Pa., on July 9, more than two weeks ago.

He was charged with misdemeanors.

He was sent a summons.

Reading Eagle’s business reporting paints Berks Countians as economic rubes

by Steve Reinbrecht

Information about real estate and the housing industry is important. 

Don’t trust me. Trust Forbes: “If you want to look at telltale indicators that reveal whether a specific local real estate market is outperforming – or underperforming – during the national rebound underway, check out these two: The median number of days from listing of a house to sale, and whether the local drop in available homes for sale has been above or below the national norm.”

Therefore, I clicked right through to the Reading Eagle’s latest post about June’s statistics. I love economic statistics. I can’t get enough of them.

But once again, the Eagle proves it is a pseudo-paper that wants to LOOK like a newspaper but not really be a newspaper.

At the top of the article, the Reading-Berks Association of Realtors writes: “Educating the public on current market data is a key component of our outreach to the greater Reading community, and we are privileged to provide the current market statistics for Berks County as of June.”

I think that’s great. Sort of like citizen journalism.

But the Reading Eagle just slopped the association’s news release on the page unedited. If I wrote it, I’d be pissed. Little of it is relevant or even makes sense.

Editors don’t let sentences like this appear in the newspaper: “The average percentage of listing prices for which homes sold increased 0.89 percent to 97.63 percent, from 96.74 percent in May.”

It even botched the headline.

How is this treatment of “business news” going to appear to prospective investors who might expect a savvy business community?

And how does this kind of “journalism” promote a business community in Berks County that is savvy enough to deal with those prospective investors?

A recent headline on its latest “Business Weekly”:
Businesses find many reasons to relocate to Berks

[Tautologic when you think about it. If they didn’t have many reasons, they would not locate here.]

The article says six companies have moved into Berks in the past two years.

The editors should ask the reporters to find out why the same people have been in charge of economic development for so long without achieving much and still have their jobs.

Reading Eagle health articles seem designed to scare, not inform

by Steve Reinbrecht

In 2014, there were 79 cases of Lyme disease in Berks County, a rate of 6 out of every 100,000 people, according to the Pennsylvania health department. [About 414,000 people live in Berks. Don’t ask me how state epidemiologists crunch their numbers.]

In its typical level-headed style, the Reading Eagle explained the risk in July:

“But of late, Pennsylvania has become unfortunately synonymous with something else: Lyme disease.”

On the other hand, Berks residents suffer nearly 4,400 cases of chlamydia a year, a rate of nearly 355 per 100,000.

Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease that can infect men and women, according to the taxpayer-funded federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can cause serious, permanent damage to a woman's reproductive system, making it difficult or impossible for her to get pregnant later on. Chlamydia can also cause a potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy.

But the Reading Eagle editors would never think such an uncomfortable topic as an STD is suitable to explore, even though better awareness of this and other genuine health issues would improve the quality of life in Berks County.

Horrible as Lyme is, I’m more scared of salmonella, which struck 205 Berks Countians, though not much more scared, because that’s just about 16 of out every 100,000 of us.

Want to be scared? The cancer rate in Berks is 442 per 100,000. Still, I’ll take those odds, and worry instead, wallowing among invisible ticks, about how to keep the rabbits off my clematis.