Who Dizz? The curious case of “Hazel Williams,” KQED, and The San Francisco Standard

When you read a story in a newspaper or other media outlet, you expect accuracy and vetted sources. The reporter uses the person's full name, professional title or occupation, and location. In the event a source is necessary but requests anonymity, the reporter will confer with their editor. If the reason is valid and the story is a go, the reporter may write something like, “according to a source close to the gunshot victim..,” but not use a fake name.

Also crucial: if a cited source represents or is affiliated with an organization relevant to the story, the reporter will include it.

For example, imagine a story is about escalating violence in a city. A reporter might write, “Joe Schmo, an NRA board member from Chicago, Ill. says people are buying firearms for self defense because…” Referring to Schmo just as a concerned neighbor would be duplicitous.

By following these straightforward journalistic guidelines, trust is established. 

KQED Quotes Hazel Williams

Quiet bells went off when a person by the name of “Hazel Williams” was first quoted in a Nov.28, 2023 story by Juan Carlos Lara, a reporter for KQED: Emails Reveal SF Officials’ Coordinated Efforts Against Unhoused People. 

From the story: 

“It’s especially absurd considering how much money and how many resources are being spent on creative ways to push homeless people from one neighborhood to another, at the cost of the taxpayer in many cases, instead of just paying to house people,” said Hazel Williams, the homeless rights advocate who filed the initial public records request.

Having lived in San Francisco for over 35 years and covered local politics as well as homeless advocacy organizations, the name struck. I had never heard of Hazel Williams. That's fine; I don't know everybody. Still, I was curious. 

Who is this “homeless rights advocate”?

The San Francisco Standard Then Quotes Hazel Williams

On Dec. 11, 2023, the San Francisco Standard published Boulders Used To Deter Homeless Camps Near San Francisco School, by David Sjostedt.

From the story:

“This is another in a long line of examples of cruelty against unhoused people with nowhere to go,” Hazel Williams, an advocate for homeless people, said about the newly placed boulders in SoMa. “It’s a direct result of the city’s failure to house people, leaving businesses and property owners to create hostile environments that prevent people from resting.”

No affiliated organization is mentioned.

Bells Ring Louder

By this point, many were wondering who this Hazel Williams is. So I asked friends and on X, and a tip came in. The person quoted in the KQED story is known by @Dizz_H (HDizz) on X, who posted this on the platform on Nov. 18, 2023:

“Read coverage of my public records showing that SF city agencies, businesses, and wealthy residents are illegally installing $750 metal…”

(It ends there because by the time I looked the handle up, @Dizz_H had turned their account to private.)

Who is HDizz?

It was easy to identify HDizz. She/they gave an interview on a podcast called Sad Francisco. The episode is Politicians’ Texts REVEALED: Public Records w/ Hazel, and the show notes are: 

“What politicians say in public usually doesn't line up with what they text friends from their work phones. Hazel (Twitter: @dizz_h) pores over public records that give insight into what politicians really think.”

Hazel introduces herself/themself as a “socialist organizer in san francisco.”

Turns out that HDizz is co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, San Francisco (DSA-SF). From the website under “Hazel W.”:

Hazel has been organizing with DSA San Francisco for 5 years, driving forward the chapter’s mutual aid and tenant organizing work, serving as chapter co-chair, and developing its priority system and leadership development program.

What is Real and Revealed

Outside of the two aforementioned stories, nothing is attributed to the name “Hazel Williams.”

A couple leads went nowhere. There is a Hazel Williams in Cleveland, Ohio with homeless advocacy experience, but she’s not our HDizz. Someone with a generic LinkedIn profile, no photo, with a description of Goodwill Industries is in the Bay Area has the same name, but when I called the agency I was told she’s not on the employee list.

Wanting to solve the mystery, I reached out to Sjostedt, the Standard’s reporter who wrote the story, as well as the publication’s editor-in-chief, Julie Makinen via X, for answers. Makinen responded:

“We’ve sent your contact to Hazel, who can reply if she’s interested in speaking with you.”

I never heard back.

Then I asked Sjostedt directly: “Is Hazel Williams a pseudonym?” He responded:

“Hazel has been doing public records work in San Francisco for many years now and has been cited in several publications, including KQED. I am not aware that this is a pseudonym. They said they are not working for a particular organization in doing this work.”

It appears that Hazel “Williams” is Hazel W. (HDizz), co-chair of the DSA-SF, one of the most radical political organizations in the city.

According to their website, their aim is to “decommodify” housing and land:

“This can be done through canceling rent, closing eviction courts, and, as landlords exit the market, using state action to acquire private property and transform into public democratically controlled housing.”

Leaving out this germane detail is profoundly wrong. As a DSA-SF employee, Hazel W. is directly connected to one of the most powerful politicians in San Francisco: Supervisor Dean Preston, who is also a member. 

Preston has influence over the city’s policies and legislation - very much including homelessness and housing.

Why This Matters (It Matters a Lot)

Who Hazel W./Hazel Williams/HDizz is remains foggy. Did she/they give a fake name to the reporters or did the media outlets allow a pseudonym? 

What we do know is that this essential information was left out of both stories published by both KQED and The Standard. Not sourcing this person as co-chair of the DSA-SF is a serious and egregious omission. Hazel W. is not a neutral do-gooder or a random community member, but a stakeholder with a specific agenda. As per her/their Substack, Hostile Architects:

“I don’t believe there is such a thing as an apolitical journalistic project under capitalism.”

This, readers, is a problem. A big problem.

You deserve better. We all do. Currently faith in journalism is at a nadir, so the last thing any of us wants is further erosion. And frankly, it makes my job harder. I don’t want anyone to read my stories and doubt the validity of my sources or wonder if significant facts have been excluded.