Former Linden editor to Goodloe Sutton: 'I don't think you have realized the damage you have done'

When Elecia Dexter took editorial control of the Linden Democrat-Reporter, she thought it would be an opportunity to turn over a new leaf for the troubled paper.

"There was a lot of opportunity (for) taking it in a new direction," she said.

The prior weeks had proved tumultuous. The Montgomery Advertiser published a story about racist editorials by Goodloe Sutton, the longtime owner and head of the paper. He called for the Ku Klux Klan to take Washington, D.C. "We'll get the hemp ropes out, loop them over a tall limb and hang all of them," he said.

Backlash was fierce. National news media picked up on the story and Sutton was pressured to step down at the paper and had accolades for his previous work stripped.

During the next week, Dexter said she and supporters were optimistic about the future of the paper. It had been years since certain aspects of the town received photo and print coverage. With a bit of time to learn the ropes, she said she was positive they could shift perceptions.

More:Editor of Linden paper quits after claiming interference from Goodloe Sutton

More:Goodloe Sutton, Alabama editor who called for lynchings, hands over reins at newspaper

That hope quickly dwindled.

In the subsequent weeks, Dexter described Sutton as unrelenting in his attempt to publish a fake article about Advertiser reporter Melissa Brown. He eventually went so far as to fabricate quotes.

"He thought that was somehow vindicating himself," Dexter said.

The Advertiser attempted to contact Sutton for this article. When the reporter identified himself, Sutton paused for a few seconds before saying:

"Y’all need to discuss, service, honor, integrity and truth." He then hung up.

The reporter called again. Sutton answered but hung up without saying anything.

The hand-off that never was

Dexter said she realized there was a lot to learn when she took over as publisher and editor of the Democrat-Reporter.

From the beginning, Sutton was telling people she was part owner of the paper, despite her never agreeing to any terms. Sutton refused to tell Advertiser reporters if the paper had officially been sold to Dexter or if ownership had been transferred, and repeatedly called an Advertiser reporter “dumb” for asking.

Sutton continued to tell Dexter he would transfer her 10 percent ownership of the paper every year, she said, until it was fully under her control in 10 years. He kept telling her that they had discussed and agreed, she said, but that wasn't true.

"I think you keep having these conversations that we have talked, but we haven’t," Dexter said to him. She said she was nervous about taking on a commitment of that level without fully researching the finances of the paper and looking at the reality of owning a newspaper.

Sutton has repeatedly said he has offers to sell the paper and told Dexter he declined multiple offers to hand the paper off to her. As of March 19, the Advertiser could not independently confirm whether Sutton actually had offers.

The first issue

It was Feb. 28. Despite the national spotlight, Dexter had managed to put together a paper and publish it.

She bought donuts and coffee and invited members of the community to come meet her at the paper's headquarters, a small white house with a matching newspaper box out front.

Residents told her Sutton should have stepped down years ago, Dexter said, and the response, nationwide and largely positive, was overwhelming.

“We are a small paper ... so a lot of it was very new to me." she said. "I felt things were going well."

Dexter said she realized that she would have to rely on Sutton initially to help her learn the intricacies of the paper. It was her impression he would offer advice and take care of the finances for the immediate future.

Soon after the issue was published, Dexter notices suspicious emails about "fake news" coming to the paper's email. It was then she realized that Sutton had doctored the front page of the Feb. 28 issue and sent a PDF version out to friends, and eventually news outlets. 

More:Opinion: 'Uncomfortable reality': Goodloe Sutton, a known racist, earned honors and shouldn't have

More:After pro-KKK editorial, Alabama lawmakers call on publisher Goodloe Sutton to resign

She confronted Sutton about the emails, and he denied he had sent it. He became fixed on the column, however, and continued to push for it.

Dexter sent out a news release saying that the doctored column wasn't her or the paper's view. "I thought I had convinced him to leave it alone."

From her perspective, Sutton was caught up in a semantics argument about the Advertiser's use of the word "lynching." She recalled a conversation with Sutton about the article:

"You are concerned that you didn’t say lynch, but everything you said described it and you further confirmed it in follow-up interviews," she told him. No matter what she said though, it was clear Sutton couldn't see the connection. "He couldn't get it."

The transition that never was

In the past, Dexter said she noticed that Sutton tended to remove his name from some of the more incendiary columns he wrote.

When it came to sending out the doctored PDF, she said it seemed like he was trying to pass the authorship onto her.

”I don’t think you have realized the damage you have done over the years," Dexter recalled telling him. "You are just proving that they are right."

Dexter said she worried the fake column would further damage the paper's standing in the community. That issue was quickly drowned out by others, however.

The paper hasn't had a business license since 2016, according to Dexter. When Sutton tried to write a check for the sum owed to make it right with the city, he told Dexter that the check might not clear.

Dexter then left for Montgomery, where she was a guest speaker for a tour group. She planned to talk about her experience taking over the paper so far. About 100 miles west, in Linden, things began to unravel.

Sutton wanted to put the fake article on the front page of the paper again. This time he succeeded, she said, and it was too late to remove it by the time she got involved. 

The fake story ran on the front page, and multiple pages inside were blank. Sutton sent it with Dexter's name on the paper, she said, making people think she was supporting the article.

"The Democrat-Reporter's article that appeared on March 14 was not only not true, it was made up." Bro Krift, executive editor of the Montgomery Advertiser, said previously.

Sutton lied about the conversation to fit his own narrative, even fabricating quotes from Brown, Krift said. Every conversation in dispute, both in person and on the phone, was recorded, he said.

The Friday before her last day, Sutton seemed to think Dexter would be sticking around to work the paper. He began to pressure her to take out a $22,000 loan at the bank to cover business expenses, she said, and became hostile when she declined.

On March 11, she resigned after less than a month as the publisher and editor. 

More:Alabama editor Goodloe Sutton calls on KKK, resignation calls follow

It wouldn't surprise Dexter if Sutton continued to publish the paper, she said.

For her, the whole event is the sad culmination of what she saw an an opportunity to do something better for the community and quickly shift the conversation away from a topic that has no place in the public discourse.

"I know people are focusing on the hurt that article brought up...," Dexter said. . "I truly feel that by me saying yes (to taking over), it presented an opportunity to stop this conversation ... It shifted to what this paper could be."

For now, however, the future, and what the paper could be, is unclear.