Source Impersonation

In The Coffee Story         

To the Editor,

I am writing this letter to address a concern of mine. In the March 31 paper, I spotted an article about Newtown High School students who drink coffee. Seeing that this is my first year at the high school I like reading all the articles pertaining to our school.

 “I don’t like coffee, I just drink it,” was the first line of this article. I then saw that I was the one quoted as saying it! I thought to myself and never remembered anyone asking me anything about coffee. That afternoon my “friend” called me up and told me that he made the statement and gave the reporter my name instead of his own. Yes, Will, you know who you are. Even though this may have been a good laugh at the lunch table, it wasn’t amusing to me. This goes to show, what else is published in papers claiming someone has said something when in reality they haven’t? Is this an ongoing matter, and am I the only one to say something about it?

I feel that people need to take these matters more seriously. This may not be a big issue, but it is for me and anyone else who can relate to this experience. And just for the record, I do drink coffee, and I drink coffee because I like it.

Sean O’Mahoney

1 Willow Brook Lane, Newtown                                   April 5, 2000