More information needed

As a loyal subscriber to the Herald-Leader, I understand the space limits, time pressures and financial constraints that print newspapers are under. However, in locally written articles two days in a row, I’ve read news stories that don’t address basic who-what-when-where-why details.

On Oct. 5, I was fascinated by Tom Eblen’s commentary about Lexington’s East End racetrack. This is the first I had heard about it. In skimming through, I thought I must have missed an address or specific location of the track. I triple-checked — that information is absent. Perhaps the location is lost to history and no one knows where it had been. If so, at least mention that.

On Oct. 6, I read about a Cold War-era transport plane from the West Berlin airlift in 1948-49. I was not provided with any description of the airlift or historical context. I’d gladly exchange a smaller photo of the cockpit for a paragraph containing historic background, event details and consequences.

Reporters and columnists face tight deadlines and limited resources. Isn’t it the role of the editor to point out if major content is missing before the newspaper goes to print?

This story was originally published November 7, 2017 at 7:30 PM with the headline "More information needed."