''The Democrat-Reporter'' is a local
weekly newspaper
A weekly newspaper is a general-news or current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly newspaper is published once every two weeks. Weekly n ...
in
Linden, Alabama
Linden is a city in and the county seat of Marengo County, Alabama, United States. The population was 1,930 at the 2020 census, down from 2,123 at the 2010 census.
History
Settled prior to 1818, the community was first known as "Screamersvill ...
, United States. It was established in 1911 from the merger of the ''Linden Reporter'' and the ''Marengo Democrat''. The newspaper was published by the Sutton family for over a century, with
Goodloe Sutton
Howard Goodloe Sutton (born January 31, 1939) is an American newspaper editor, publisher, and owner. From 1964 to 2019, he published '' The Democrat-Reporter'', a small weekly newspaper in Linden, Alabama. Sutton was widely celebrated in 1998 for ...
running it from 1985 to 2019. The newspaper won national acclaim in the 1990s for its investigation of a corrupt county sheriff, but was met with criticism in early 2019 over an editorial from Sutton calling for the return of the
Ku Klux Klan.
Sutton resigned as publisher and editor on February 22, 2019, and appointed Elecia R. Dexter to the two roles while he retained ownership. Dexter resigned less than a month later, citing ongoing interference from Sutton, and a deal to sell the paper to an out-of-state couple fell through a month later. The newspaper was sold to Tommy Wells in July 2019, as Sutton announced his retirement.
History
The ''Linden Reporter'' was created in 1879 and the ''Marengo Democrat'' was founded in 1899. The two newspapers merged to form ''The Democrat-Reporter'' in 1911. Robert E. Sutton bought the newspaper in 1917 and was its managing editor and publisher until 1965. He sold ''The Democrat-Reporter'' to his son
Goodloe in 1982.
Goodloe Sutton also worked alongside his wife, Jean, until her death in 2003.
The newspaper won national acclaim in the 1990s for its investigation of county sheriff Roger Davis for political corruption, despite his widespread popularity and
death threat
A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a de ...
s to editor Goodloe Sutton and his family. Davis and two deputies from the office were sentenced for misuse of public funds and other crimes, including intimidation tactics used against the Suttons.
The four-year investigative series was considered a favorite for a
Pulitzer Prize nomination in 1998, though the newspaper was not a finalist. The Suttons were interviewed by ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', the ''
American Journalism Review
The ''American Journalism Review'' (''AJR'') was an American magazine covering topics in journalism. It was launched in 1977 as the ''Washington Journalism Review'' by journalist Roger Kranz. It ceased publication in 2015.
History and profile
Th ...
'', ''
Reader's Digest
''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wif ...
'', and the
Oprah Winfrey Show
''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...
.
Goodloe Sutton was also honored by Representative
Earl F. Hilliard in a remark to
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
on May 6, 1998, for his bravery.
Goodloe Sutton ran unsuccessfully for the
state house in 1998, losing to incumbent
Andrew Hayden despite an ethics controversy.
''The Democrat-Reporter'' had a longstanding rivalry with the ''
Demopolis Times'', which is published in neighboring
Demopolis
Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County, in west-central Alabama. The population was 7,162 at the time of the 2020 United States census, down from 7,483 at the 2010 census.
The city lies at the confluence of the Black Warrior River and T ...
. ''The Democrat-Reporter'' absorbed the ''Thomasville News'' (of
Thomasville) in 2006, after a decade under the ownership of the Sutton family. The newspaper's circulation dropped from 7,000 to 3,000 by the mid-2010s, and printing was outsourced to a plant in
Monroeville. The offices for ''The Democrat-Reporter'' were moved in 2015 to a new building farther away from the county courthouse.
The newspaper is published weekly on Thursdays and generally contains eight pages, including local news,
legal notice
Notice is the legal concept describing a requirement that a party be aware of legal process affecting their rights, obligations or duties. There are several types of notice: public notice (or legal notice), actual notice, constructive notice Ser ...
s, and an
editorial page
An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK) is an article written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or any other written document, often unsigned. Australian and major United States newspapers, such ...
.
KKK editorial and new ownership
On February 14, 2019, ''The Democrat-Reporter'' publisher Goodloe Sutton wrote an editorial titled "Klan needs to ride again", calling for the return of the
Ku Klux Klan to "clean out
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
" with
lynchings.
"We'll get the hemp ropes out, loop them over a tall limb and hang all of them", Sutton said. He also specified that he was only referring to hanging "socialist-communists", and compared the Klan to the
NAACP.
The editorial led to calls on Sutton to resign by senators
Doug Jones and
Richard Shelby, while other local politicians stated that they were not surprised by the comments. The editorial was first discovered and shared by the student-run ''
Auburn Plainsman''.
Sutton had previously been criticized for running offensive headlines and editorials, including comments about the
Obama family and
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
, but they did not get as much attention.
Subscriptions to the newspaper declined as Linden residents responded negatively to the editorial and its widespread attention.
Sutton's
alma mater, the
University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...
, removed him from the School of Communication's
Mass Communication Hall of Fame over the editorial, and he was also stripped of a distinguished community journalism award he had been presented in 2009 by
Auburn University's Journalism Advisory Council.
Sutton responded to the criticism by saying that he was not sorry that he wrote the editorial, and that he would do it again if he had the chance.
On February 22, Sutton announced that he would resign from his positions as publisher and editor, giving control of the newspaper to Elecia R. Dexter. Dexter, an African-American woman with a degree in speech communications from
Eastern Illinois University, had been employed at ''The Democrat-Reporter'' as a front-desk employee for six weeks at the time of the editorial, but had no journalism experience.
Sutton retained ownership of the newspaper. Dexter resigned the editorship on March 11, two weeks after taking the position, due to editorial changes made by Sutton without her permission.
In an interview with ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', Dexter said that Sutton had emailed a version of the February 28 issue of the newspaper that replaced an article about his retirement with a defense of the KKK editorial and attacks against the ''
Montgomery Advertiser
The ''Montgomery Advertiser'' is a daily newspaper and news website located in Montgomery, Alabama. It was founded in 1829.
History
The newspaper began publication in 1829 as ''The Planter's Gazette.'' Its first editor was Moseley Baker. It ...
'' for publishing an interview with him.
She stated that her resignation was made after further changes to the March 14 issue, but was delayed over concerns for Sutton's cognitive well-being.
The
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
reported in late March that Sutton had sold the newspaper to an unnamed buyer, who were later identified as out-of-state residents C.T. Harless and Sabrina McMahan in a front-page editorial on March 28. Online news outlet ''Alabama Political Reporter'' published an investigation into Harless, who was using a pseudonym, and linked him to a group aligned with the Ku Klux Klan from Tennessee. Linden mayor Charles Moore expressed skepticism over whether the newspaper had actually been sold, while Sutton stated that he would continue operating the newspaper because the new owners lacked experience. In July, the Associated Press reported that Sutton had retired and sold the newspaper to Tommy Wells, a sports publicist from Texas who had previously shown interest in acquiring the ''Democrat-Reporter''. Wells and his wife published their first edition on July 5, 2019, with the announcement of Sutton's retirement.
References
External links
Archive of ''The Democrat-Reporter''at Small Town Papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Democrat-Reporter
Newspapers published in Alabama
Marengo County, Alabama
Newspapers established in 1911
Weekly newspapers published in the United States
1911 establishments in Alabama
Ku Klux Klan