How The River Reporter Built a Politician and Never Told Its Readers
Corrections: An earlier version of this article stated that The River Reporter had no Honesdale coverage before Derek Williams’ involvement. The River Reporter has covered Honesdale since at least 2012. Additionally, an earlier version described the News Ambassador role as a “designated community reporter.” The News Ambassador program uses trained volunteers who record public meetings and provide brief summaries—not editorial reporting. The article has been updated to reflect both corrections. The core argument—that Williams embedded himself into the outlet’s Honesdale coverage, used it to build political capital, and that The River Reporter failed to disclose these relationships or provide equitable coverage of his opponent—remains unchanged.
The River Reporter has covered Honesdale for over a decade. That makes what happened next worse, not better. Derek Williams didn’t need to create the outlet’s presence in Wayne County. He just needed to make himself the center of it. By late 2019, the paper described him as writing “a regular column.” His Canaltown project featured prominently in their coverage. He became the authoritative local voice on Honesdale affairs—not as a journalist, but as a contributor with his own agenda, writing on the very topics he would later campaign on.
Building the Brand He’d Run On
Williams used that column to write about zoning, walkability, murals, downtown development, and community planning—the exact platform he would later campaign on. He built name recognition. He built trust. He became the voice readers associated with Honesdale news from that outlet. Then, in August 2021, that same column space effectively told readers: the man who has been informing you about your town now wants to run it.
He won. Of course he won. The audience did not need to be persuaded to trust him. They already did. He had been their journalist.
Then He Installed His Brother
After Williams took office in January 2022, The River Reporter did not re-calibrate. It did not disclose the prior relationship. It did not establish any editorial firewall between its years-long contributor and its coverage of him as a public official. Instead, Ryan Williams—Derek’s brother—became The River Reporter’s “News Ambassador” to Honesdale, a volunteer role that involves attending borough council meetings, recording them, and providing brief summaries. He was not a reporter in the editorial sense—but he was the outlet’s designated presence in the room, the mayor’s brother serving as the paper’s eyes and ears at the very meetings the mayor presided over. At no point was this relationship disclosed to readers.
A Predictable Coverage Pattern
Across every article reviewed—from Williams’ 2021 campaign through his 2025 reelection—The River Reporter framed him as a visionary, a transparency champion, a grassroots community builder. He received multiple dedicated profile pieces during his first campaign. He was given extensive, sympathetic quotes in nearly every article. When controversy arose, he was framed as the statesman taking corrective action.
His Opponent Got Nothing
Jim Hamill—who won more council votes than any candidate in recent Honesdale history when first elected in 2021—received zero dedicated candidate profiles when he challenged Williams for mayor in 2025. When Hamill raised substantive governance questions about policing shortfalls, borough manager costs, and playground transparency, The River Reporter consistently framed those as Hamill being a problem rather than investigating whether his complaints had merit.
Surgical Timing Before the Election
On October 31, 2025—days before the November 4 election—The River Reporter published an article about Hamill being stripped of his committee assignments and rebuked by the council. That was the last major piece readers saw about Williams’ only challenger before they went to the polls. Radio Catskill, covering the same event, led with the political context: tensions heating up days before an election. The River Reporter led with the council’s grievances against Hamill. It never examined whether the council’s politically convenient timing warranted scrutiny. It never asked whether Williams’ allies were using their institutional power to damage his opponent at the most damaging possible moment.
Williams won reelection with 68.67 percent of the vote. The River Reporter quoted him at length about gratitude and community. It did not quote Hamill about the loss.
None of this required a conspiracy. It required only what was plainly visible: a man who embedded himself into an outlet’s coverage of a town, converted that editorial access into political capital, and continued to benefit from uniformly favorable coverage.
Newspapers are not legally required to give equal coverage. But journalistic ethics exist for a reason.
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