African-American Editor Resigns From Alabama Newspaper
HILL: The newly installed publisher and editor of an Alabama weekly newspaper, "The Democrat-Reporter," is stepping down. Elecia Dexter was promoted to the position last month after the paper's own, Goodloe Sutton, penned an editorial with the headline, "the Klan needs to ride again." Now, CNN did attempt to get a statement from Sutton and "The Democrat- Reporter." We have not heard back from them. Elecia Dexter, though, joins us now. It's good to have you with us. You weren't there very long.</s>ELECIA DEXTER, FORMER EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, "THE DEMOCRAT-REPORTER": Thank you so much.</s>HILL: I know you had very high hopes. You had very high hopes for what you could do in that position. Why did you decide to resign?</s>DEXTER: Yes. I decided to resign because I noticed that Mr. Sutton, it was very hard for him to pull away. This is something he's been doing for over 50 years. And I also began to recognize that there was some significant issues financially that were going on with the paper that I wasn't aware of prior to. There was issues with the business license not being paid for several years, which once I became editor and publisher, that was a thing that I needed to address with Mr. Sutton and also with the city of Linden.</s>HILL: So that was the practical matter that needed to be addressed. But you also touched on the fact that it sounds like you weren't really given the autonomy that you thought you may have in that position. Is that correct?</s>DEXTER: Yes. I was able to produce the paper, but what was occurring behind the scenes that I wasn't aware of was that certain things that he wanted to get out into the media or certain views that he wanted to have expressed, he would send them out separately outside of me. And so because it's a small operation, we had one e-mail at the particular time. So I started to see e-mails relating to that and so initially we did have a discussion concerning what he was sending out, and those were things that were his opinions. So I told him that I would begin to separate the newspaper from him. But he continued to send things out. And one of the critical things that led to me stepping down was the first editorial that came out was February 28th that I was over and we had a front page that we created. The right was a reflection of my press release, the left was a reflection of the story about what the paper had meant to him. I end up finding out, later on the first week of March, that he had altered the front page cover and sent it out to different media outlets as if it was the actual front page. So then I had to address that, which was challenging because we're at a point we were trying to do damage control. We were trying to restore the paper. Or at least I was trying to restore the paper. I was trying to regain trust from the community and the people that have supported the paper for a very long time. And so that really created a significant impact to that ability to be able to do that.</s>HILL: Did he understand your concerns on that front?</s>DEXTER: I think he did, but initially he said he couldn't remember doing it. And there was a sense of loss. I can tell in his eyes. So I'm not sure if he truly couldn't remember, but I definitely know that it was important to him for him to alter that page. So I'm torn between was it intentional or was it not? But he definitely understood that I felt that that was impeding upon me being successful and carrying on the legacy of this newspaper that had been in his family for over 100 -- almost 140 years.</s>HILL: So when what's next at this point for "The Democrat-Reporter"? Do you get the sense that it's something he wants to continue but only if it reflects his personal views?</s>DEXTER: I think that is the case. I know he has mentioned to me that he's been trying to sell the paper since 2008. He has recognized that he has significant health issues that have impeded his ability to carry on the paper full time. So I know there's a possibility he's trying to sell the paper. I'm not sure if that will go through. The paper will have some significant issues if it's just him running the paper. That is for sure.</s>HILL: Elecia Dexter, appreciate you thanks the time to join us. Please let us know what's next for you. Thank you.</s>DEXTER: Thank you. I appreciate you having me. Very much so.</s>BERMAN: All right, we do have breaking news on a possible terror attack in the Netherlands. Authorities there are on high alert. And we are waiting to hear how Republicans react to the president's weekend outbursts. That's next.