• by Ray Schultz , November 2, 2023

The newspaper business is roiling over the arrest of a small-town publisher and reporter in Alabama for allegedly publishing an article containing grand jury information.  

Reporter Donald Fletcher was arrested along with Sherry Digmon, co-owner of Atmore News, a weekly newspaper. They were released on bond.  

The charges were brought by Stephen Billy, Escambia County district attorney.  

Fletcher reported that Billy was investigating the school board for its handling of pandemic relief funds.  

Ashley Fore, a school bookkeeper, was also arrested for releasing grand jury information to the media. 

Digmon is also accused of using her position on the school board to sell ads in Atmore Magazine and soliciting paid ads from subordinates, realizing a gain of $2,500, according to the New YorkTimes.  

The arrests in Alabama follow the August raid of the Marion County (Kansas) record and seizing of materials, an incident that raised great alarm in the press.  

The Alabama arrests drew quick condemnation from journalism advocates.  

“We are outraged that local authorities in Escambia County, Alabama, arrested and charged Atmore News reporter Don Fletcher and publisher Sherry Digmon in response to the publication of a news article,” said  Eileen O’Reilly, president of the National Press Club, and Gil Klein, president of the National Press Club Journalism Institute, in a statement.  

They continued, “Journalists in the United States have the right and the responsibility to report information of public interest to their communities. That is exactly what Don Fletcher and Sherry Digmon were doing when they reported and published an article on Oct. 25 regarding an investigation into a local school system’s use of federal COVID funds."

The First Amendment gives news media the “right to publish truthful information on matters of public concern, even if unlawfully acquired, provided the publisher did not participate in the unlawful conduct,” says Dennis Bailey, general counsel for the Alabama Press Association, pointing to U.S. Supreme Court decisions, according to Associated Press.  

O’Reilly and Klein added that they are “ deeply concerned by this violation of the First Amendment rights of these journalists. We call for all charges against them to be dropped immediately, and we expect a full investigation by appropriate state and federal authorities into why these journalists were arrested for simply doing their jobs.”