Keeping the Public Trust

By Michael Anthony, Andrea Klausner, George Lynch, Barbara Weber-Floyd

The public entrance to The Southampton Press informs visitors that good journalism exists here. The walls are festooned with award plaques signifying a long history of excellence in reporting the news, sharing opinions and otherwise keeping the community well-informed.

Sometimes, though, a person of ill will takes advantage of the best, and that brings us all down. On May 8, The Press published “A Note From the Editor” acknowledging that the letter writer calling himself “Jose Reyes,” sometimes from Hampton Bays and sometimes from Southampton, is a fictitious person.

After members of the Southampton Town Democratic Committee strongly called into question the identity of “Jose Reyes,” The Press informed its readers that it had violated its own stated policy of verifying the identity of all letter writers who wish to be published. It failed to obtain the name, address and phone number of someone named “Jose Reyes.” Yet, The Press published not just one letter, but a whole series of letters by this disgruntled individual without verifying that he was indeed a real person. “Jose Reyes,” in fact, turned out to be a fictitious person writing under an assumed name. When the editor ultimately pressed for his real name, “Jose Reyes” refused. Readers, therefore, will no longer be reading any additional “Jose Reyes” letters. We request that The Press delete all “Jose Reyes” letters from its archive. They never should have been published to begin with.

We thank The Press for informing its readers of this error and acknowledging that this action was taken in response to a request for verification by members of the Southampton Democratic Committee. However, we don’t believe the “Note From the Editor” goes far enough. We believe the readership of The Southampton Press deserves to know the full “Jose Reyes” story, and so we will pick up where The Press ended.

We are not writing this Viewpoint to penalize The Press for its error. Everyone makes mistakes, and we thank The Press again for owning up to its omission. We strongly support The Press and recognize the importance local newspapers play in public discourse. We do believe, however, that it is in the public interest to address the harm that is done when letter writers hide their identities, giving them license to spew hurtful lies free from any consequences. Injury was inflicted upon real people such as Gordon Herr, Andrea Klausner, John Leonard and the real Jose Reyes family, as well upon the editors of the newspaper who were played for suckers. Harm was also inflicted upon the public at large. Because when someone hides behind a fake name, they not only escape accountability but also obscure their true agenda, deeply damaging legitimate public discourse. Public trust in the reliability of print media is eroded and readers can’t discern whether to believe what they read. Claims by bad actors that newspapers print “fake news” are strengthened and the power of the press to inform and educate is weakened.

The “Jose Reyes” saga is one of malicious deceit. Freed from the constraints of responsibility, this hidden figure engaged in a smear campaign to assassinate the reputations of Gordon Herr, Andrea Klausner and John Leonard. Using such inflammatory and potentially libelous language as “grifter,” “charlatan,” “snake oil salesman,” “patsy,” “henchwoman” and “rotten berry,” the writer attempted to drag these people through the mud in a very public fashion. Whether you personally like these people or not, they are hardworking community volunteers who have the courage to place themselves in the public eye and stand behind their opinions and actions. They deserve respectful disagreement, not vicious rants by a coward who refuses to reveal his identity and motives.

“Jose Reyes” also deceived the public about the workings of the Southampton Democratic Committee. He falsely claimed decisions were made solely by Gordon Herr, a “powerful party boss.” He lied that Gordon Herr alone controlled candidate nominations. In fact, the Southampton Democratic Committee is composed of 84 elected members who participate in committee decisions. Candidate endorsements are voted upon by the entire committee. To suggest otherwise is misleading and insulting to the rest of our dedicated members.

The false claims of “Jose Reyes” also harm the reputation of the Southampton Democratic Party and impede its mission. Community members who are unfamiliar with the workings of the committee and the integrity of its leadership may form negative impressions based on the outright lies spread by “Jose Reyes.” This hurts our ability to recruit committee members and candidates. It could also negatively impact election results for Democratic candidates. Talk about undemocratic disenfranchisement, “Jose Reyes!” Spreading lies to unfairly influence election outcomes comes right out of the MAGA playbook.

“Jose Reyes” claims that Gordon Herr and committee leadership are stripping the public of options because of cross-endorsements. He calls this “authoritarian.” We want to point out to the public that cross-endorsements have long been made by all the political parties in Southampton, yet only the Southampton Democratic Committee, and its chairperson, Gordon Herr, were singled out by “Jose Reyes” for scathing criticism. We also want to remind the public that the Southampton Democratic Committee does not, and has never, prevented any resident from running for any elected position in our town. We merely endorse candidates we think will best serve all the residents of the town. If you do not receive our party’s endorsement, you still have the right to run for election. All you have to do is obtain the requisite number of signatures on petitions to get on the ballot and you may then force a primary.

We would like the public to understand that Southampton residents are not banging down doors to run for public office. In fact, there is a shortage across the political spectrum of qualified candidates who wish to run for public office. Given the vitriolic attacks faced by candidates today, as the “Jose Reyes” caper illustrates, is it any wonder why? If you have a genuine interest in serving the public good and your motivations are selfless, we strongly encourage you to consider running for an elected position at any level of government. The country needs you.

Finally, we believe the letter writer owes an apology to members of the real Reyes family who live in our community. Their privacy was invaded, and they were forced to endure unwanted attention in attempts to verify the identity of the fictitious letter writer. In this time of insecurity about government intrusions into our lives, using a pen name that belongs to a real member of our community should concern all of us. It is unacceptable, irresponsible and dangerous.

A person of integrity does not need to hide behind what he writes. If it’s worth putting into writing, it’s worth signing. Letters to the editor serve an important function, giving voice to differing opinions in the community. However, readers should expect to be able to evaluate such letters in light of the true identity of the writers and to judge their motivations accordingly. Shame on the fictitious Mr. Reyes for abusing the public trust.

Michael Anthony, Andrea Klausner, George Lynch and Barbara Weber-Floyd are members of the Executive Committee of the Southampton Democratic Committee.