The Amarillo Pioneer has recently been made aware of an illegitimate YouTube account utilizing our name and logo. This account had left several comments on several videos criticizing candidates in our upcoming local election. We are also aware that screenshots of the comments are being shared insinuating that the comments were left by our official YouTube account.
The official YouTube account for The Amarillo Pioneer was created on June 13th, 2016. The illegitimate account was created on March 15th, 2023. The illegitimate account was reported, and, as of writing, the account appears to have been removed from YouTube, however, we are aware that some of the comments from the illegitimate channel may still appear for some viewers.
In elections where The Amarillo Pioneer hosts a candidate forum, it has always been our editorial policy to reserve making any endorsements or non-endorsements until after the forum is held. We are planning to host our 2023 Local Candidate forum on March 30th at the Amarillo Botanical Gardens. Every candidate for Amarillo Mayor and City Council has been invited to this forum, as well as every candidate for Amarillo ISD Board and Amarillo College Board. We will also be hosting a virtual forum focused exclusively on candidates for local school board races at a later date. All candidates for Amarillo ISD Board and Amarillo College Board have also been invited to this forum. Any endorsements or non-endorsements coming from any accounts claiming to be The Amarillo Pioneer ahead of these forums a not legitimate.
-Noah Dawson, Associate Editor