A broken trust

Dale Reisch was wronged. So was the Whitefish Pilot and its readers.

Last week, a man came into our office with a letter to the editor. Our front-desk person talked to the man and accepted the letter.

But he was not Dale Reisch.

The last time the Pilot was duped by a letter-writer claiming to be someone else, we stepped up our screening process a notch to make sure it didn't happen again.

Now we will have to consider taking even more steps to ensure the authenticity of letters and op-ed pieces submitted for publication.

The brazen individual claiming to be Dale Reisch proved how sophisticated a phony can be. His letter contains numerous details about Whitefish history and culture that lend a cachet of authenticity — even though many of the facts were dead wrong.

Worse, however, are the opinions — many controversial — falsely ascribed to Reisch. He has been forced to contact people and correct this misinformation.

A trust has been broken, but the Pilot can assure its readers that every effort will be taken to prevent this kind of behavior from happening again.

The higher level of scrutiny, however, may remind readers of the screening procedures they experience at airport terminals — a necessary nuisance.