You may think you know the Hamptons as a frothy, summertime hamlet that hosts the likes of Scarlett Johansson, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Jerry Seinfeld, and other Very Big Deals each season. But you probably don’t know the real Hamptons, not like Ellis Rattray ’28 and his friends, who, since last summer, have emerged as the teenage beat reporters of Montauk, New York.

When Rattray was in 8th grade, he, along with a cousin, Teddy, and a friend, Billy, were dreaming up what to do with their summer when inspiration hit, partly thanks to Rattray’s father, a long-time paperman who owns The East Hampton Star. Instead of yet another summer spent working to serve the season’s tourists, the three teenagers opted for bylines to serve residents instead. The Ditch Weekly, “Local News by Local Kids,” was born. 

Although they have a masthead that features a 15-year-old editor in chief, a 14-year-old director of sales, and a host of 13- to 16-year-old writers like Rattray, these are no cub reporters. The Ditch Weekly—so named for Ditch Plains Beach, the founders’ favorite place to hang, having spent countless summers there together—scored an interview with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer its freshman year for a story about Gen Z voter turnout. Their sophomore season, not only has the editorial staff bloomed to 20 teens, but The New York Times gave ink to the paper in a feature that dropped in conjunction with the Ditch’s first issue of the season, which was distributed this Memorial Day Weekend.

“Everyone thinks of [Montauk] as just a rich, touristy place, but there’s so much of the past that nobody really knows about,” Rattray told The New York Times. Writing for Ditch, he added, “I learned so much about the town I live in.”

And he’s still learning.

This summer, which marks his second year as a journalist, Rattray says he has experience from St. Andrew’s to help find a new angle.

“I think I’m a much better writer now,” he says. Rattray, who digs history, examined the past of the famous Montauk Shores Condominiums—colloquially known among residents as the “trailer park”—for a story in the July 4 issue. He says taking history with Lauren Urbont informed how he approached the piece. “[Mrs. Urbont] completely changed how I think and write about the past,” he says.

Aside from the academic boosts, the incoming sophomore says he’s gone into this summer’s exhausting production schedule—the Ditch plans to put out an issue a week until Labor Day to the tune of 2,000 copies per drop—as a better, more organized, leader. “St. Andrew’s helped me get to where I wanted to be a better leader,” he says. “Last summer, I procrastinated and turned in my stories late. I feel like I’m more punctual and organized now.”

When they started, the teens got a few assists from the grownup newspaper professionals in their life. Rattray’s dad taught Rattray how to interpret the police blotter, and an East Hampton Star designer offered the Ditch staff a crash course in layout. But the work, Rattray says, is solely on the newspaper staff. From ad sales, which fund the paper; to layout and design; to printing; to distribution—the teens do it all. “This is a real job,” Rattray says. 

Ever the son of a newspaper man, Rattray says newspapers have always been a part of his life. “I grew up reading my dad’s section, and after school, I’d go hang out in his office,” he says, then pauses: “Like I read an actual newspaper. I wish more people did that.” That “actual newspaper” has been in the Rattray family for three generations. His parents, he says, are pretty proud of him. Except it’s tough to get a hold of him during the summer when he’s working, so, “My mom texts me a lot,” he says, laughing. 

Rattray says he’s not sure news is in his long-term goals, but writing might be. “I really love creative writing,” he says.

Summer in Montauk is, as Rattray succinctly puts it, “crazy.” There’s more than enough to write about, from events, to restaurant reviews, deep-dives into the history of local landmarks and institutions, interviews with entrepreneurs, new business news, surf tips, high school sports, a roundup of “small-town crimes and misdemeanors” (the July 4 installment was titled “Stars, Stripes, and Sirens”), and  more. One particular event Rattray is psyched to cover is the 27th Rell Sunn Surf Contest on July 19, which is held on his hallowed ground of Ditch Plains Beach. “I’m really excited to walk around the beach and interview people,” he says.

Rattray fully dismisses the notion that Montauk is simply a place to see the stars. But that’s not to say he hasn’t been involved in a celebrity sighting. Except, in this case, he was the celebrity.

“I remember distributing papers to a restaurant, and this man stopped me and said, ‘Wait. Do you write for The Ditch Weekly?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ and he was so excited,” Rattray says. “He said he had just posted about us on his LinkedIn, about how impressive he thought it was because it was local news, but also that we were kids. I thought it was so cool that people care so much about our town in this way. We care about our town. That’s why we’re doing this.”