New York county’s letter asks for changes to paper’s reporting

Publishers of Delhi, New York-based The Reporter received a letter on March 8, 2023, from the Delaware County Board of Supervisors criticizing the newspaper’s coverage of the county government and requesting changes to its reporting.

The letter came almost a year after the board removed The Reporter’s longstanding designation as the county’s official paper for receiving legal notices, and it stated that the removal was motivated in part by the paper’s coverage. In the weeks leading up to the de-designation, The Reporter had published articles critical of the county’s government.

Signed by 39 county officials, the letter accuses articles in The Reporter of being “inflammatory” and of using “misrepresented” facts. It asks the publishers to “make immediate changes as necessary in an effort to create a fair and ethical form of reporting on county business.”

“The flagrant manipulation of facts and the manner in which your paper reports county business was one of the reasons the Board of Supervisors opted to change the official county paper to the Hancock Herald in 2022,” the letter continues.

The letter was central to a lawsuit filed on Dec. 4, 2023, by Decker Advertising, the parent company of The Reporter, which alleges that the de-designation and a May 2023 directive to county department directors to forward all media inquiries to the county attorney and public information officer were in retaliation for The Reporter’s coverage and a violation of the paper’s First Amendment rights.

The county contended that the change in designation was motivated by financial and administrative constraints and was not retaliatory. On the media inquiry directive, the county argued that the change applied broadly to the press, rather than just The Reporter.

On Dec. 1, 2025, both parties filed motions for summary judgment. Decker Advertising asked the judge to order the county to reinstate The Reporter as an official newspaper and declare that the county had retaliated against the newspaper’s First Amendment rights. The county requested that the case be dismissed, and added that the March 2023 letter “was to express the concerns of the Department Heads” rather than representative of the Board of Supervisors as a whole.

In a July 21, 2026, order, U.S. District Judge Anne Nardacci denied both motions, opining that the evidence presented in the case did not immediately support either side. Because of this, she ordered the case to proceed to a jury trial.

Heather Murray, an attorney with the First Amendment Clinic at Cornell Law School, which represents Decker Advertising, celebrated the order.

“We are pleased with the decision and look forward to bringing this case to trial to defend the right of The Reporter — and every news outlet — to report critically on government officials,” Murray said. “Importantly, the Court also found that The Reporter is eligible to recover punitive damages in the event a jury determines that the evidence presented of County officials’ retaliation violated the First Amendment.”

In a statement, Delaware County Board of Supervisors said, “The County will vigorously defend at trial and looks forward to a successful result.”

Board Chair Tina Molé did not respond to a request for comment about the March 2023 letter.