Jan 20, 2003 3 min read

We frequently receive anonymous letters and unsigned notes in the newsroom. Most of them involve some problem with a public official or agency that the writer of the letter wants a reporter to investigate. When the information is accurate and legitimate, such letters can lead to news stories that, in the past, have produced drastic changes in the political environment and in local government.

Fortunately, we rarely receive letters or notes that are of a vicious, vindictive nature. Usually, the anonymous letter writers just don’t want their names linked to a public problem. Their motivation to write such a letter is simply to get a wrong corrected.

However, this is not the case in a recent one-page flyer that is making the rounds. I’ve received three copies of the scandal sheet, which carries the title of “The Informer.” It includes two names of individuals listed as “founders,” and an address.

It’s easy enough for anyone, particularly nowadays with all of the computers and laserprinters, to compose any type of publication, and name it anything they want. Hundreds of copies can be easily produced and distributed.

However, the fact that something is published in print doesn’t make it legitimate, accurate or true. Anyone can put anybody’s name on it. That doesn’t mean they wrote it, or even had anything to do with the publication.

This particular sheet being shown around is filled with profanity and wild, sleazy allegations aimed at several public officials in Fayette County. Unfortunately for the public officials named in the sheet, there’s really no way for them to respond.

We’ve seen in previous years similar accusations, either through letters or even phone calls. Once these rumors get a foothold in the community grapevine we will get a phone call, or a letter, from someone wanting to know why we, the newspaper, are “covering up” or “protecting” a certain official or agency.

It’s pretty easy to start a vicious rumor. It’s even easier to spread it through casual gossip during a coffee break. We could fill up a couple of full pages in the newspaper if we decided to print all of the rumors we hear.

But we don’t publish rumors. We don’t publish anonymous letters. We don’t distribute allegations against individuals being spread by unidentified persons.

Sometimes we are criticized for refusing to participate in the rumor mill. We’ve been admonished at times by people concerned that we are engaged in a “coverup.”

Look at it this way. If you want to gossip with a friend or neighbor, you are free to say anything that your conscience will allow. You can even do so in a private letter to someone else.

It’s quite another thing to expect a newspaper to repeat that gossip to 70,000 other people. Even if you have heard the same rumor from 20 or even 200 people, that doesn’t mean it’s true or accurate. It just means that 200 people have been told or told someone else the same rumor.

So, while this latest one-page sheet might attract some attention, nothing in it could bear any resemblance to a shred of truth. It has zero credibility. And no integrity. It’s not even worth the price of the copy paper it’s printed on.

If you receive a copy, or someone drops one on your desk, do yourself a favor. Don’t bother to read it. It’s truly a waste of your valuable time.

Toss it in the wastecan with the rest of the trash, where it belongs.

Mike Ellis is the editor of the Herald-Standard. His e-mail address is: mellis@heraldstandard.com.