The envelope was slipped under the newspaper office door after hours, a letter to the editor that appeared mysteriously.
As editor, it was addressed to my first name, “Attn: Christine” even though it was from someone I had never met. And the letter itself included a name but, despite being hand-delivered, had no signature, another sign that something might be amiss.
Upon calling the writer, we learned that he had not written or delivered the letter, which shed a positive light on a company, but he had spoken to a public relations official at the company and was “fine” with the views being published. But someone else had written it. The letter was a fake.
This followed an email a few days earlier upon which one of our reporters had been accidentally copied, in which public relations staff at another company had composed a letter on behalf of a different Squamish resident. That email even included instructions on the note to send in to us with the letter.
The letters section in newspapers is meant as an open and honest forum of ideas and opinions. We post most of the letters online as well, and the letters are well read by the community and have power to sway public opinion. The Squamish Chief does sometimes publish letters from companies, but only when they are signed by someone in the company itself. We do not publish managed or manufactured letters signed with names of people who have not taken the time to write and deliver the letters themselves.
The fake letters this month were troubling. Another letter sent in recently could not be confirmed as being written or managed by PR staff, but we eliminated it upon seeing a PR official copied on the email, given the other incidents.
The companies are clearly trying to sway public opinion, but this type of activity lacks integrity.
We’re pleased to publish letters to the editor and allow commenting on our websites and Facebook pages on most letters and articles, but if public relations staff participate, they should always clearly identify themselves as representing their companies and sign with their own names. It’s the honest way to create dialogue and garner public support.
We hope all future letters will be written, signed and delivered, in person or electronically, only by the people whose names are at the bottom of the letters.
– Editor Christine Endicott
