 
 
 H. Brandt Ayers (Courtesy of the Anniston Star) 
 
 A prominent newspaper executive in Alabama accused of spanking multiple female employees during the 1970s has resigned. “It is of utmost importance to me that this newspaper continue to serve its role of reporting on matters of concern to the Anniston community and that nothing stand in the way of preserving the newspaper as an independently owned publication serving this community,” Ayers wrote in a statement to the Anniston Star. “I feel my resignation at this time is in the best interests of the paper and its mission.” 
 
 On Tuesday, Ayers admitted to the Anniston Star that he spanked at least one female reporter in her home decades ago, claiming he was simply following a doctor’s advice. Ayers was described by the Star as “among the best-known figures in Anniston, and one of the best-known small-town newspapermen in the South.” He was the son of the Star’s founder, Harry Ayers, and replaced his father as publisher in the late 1960s. “I am the third generation of a family that has served honorably, even courageously, in the public interest.” 
 
 Ayers, who owns part of Consolidated Publishing, said Thursday he will no longer serve as a director, chairman or employee of the company. In his book “In Love with Defeat: The Making of a Southern Liberal,” Ayers wrote that in the 1940s, spanking “was as American and Southern as fried chicken on Sundays.” 
 
 He described a date with the woman who later became his wife, Josephine. When asked about the alleged assault, Ayers told the Anniston Star: “Let the accusation stand.” 
 
 “As a very young man with more authority than judgment, I did some things I regret,” Ayers told the Anniston Star. “At my advanced age I wish I could relive those days again, knowing the seriousness of my position and with the accumulated judgment that goes with age.” 
 
 Earlier in the week, Ayers said he had no intention of resigning. Ayers also acknowledged allegations from Star reporter Veronica Pike Kennedy, who spoke publicly to the Star, the Montgomery Advertiser and the Alabama Political Reporter, that the publisher spanked her 18 times with a ruler in the Star newsroom in 1975. Then Ayers came into the newsroom and asked her to read an editorial, what he called "some fine writing." Though she knew he had written the piece for an editorial, she joked, “Can you tell me who wrote it?” 
 
 “And he said, ‘Oh, you are being a bad girl,’ ” Kennedy told the Advertiser. Then Ayers told her, “Well, that ought to teach you to not be a bad girl.” 
 
 Another Star reporter, Mike Stamler, then 22, said he witnessed the assault from across the room. I spank them.’” 
 
 Kennedy said she then held onto her chair as Ayers “picked me and the chair up” and then “bent me across the desk behind me.” 
 
 He allegedly spanked her forcefully 18 times with a metal pica pole, a type of ruler used by newspaper designers and editors at the time. Kennedy was 22 at the time, and Ayers, then publisher, turned 40 that same year. When Ayers asked the doctor if spanking would work, the doctor said it would, Ayers said. Kennedy told the three publications Ayers spanked her on a Saturday morning in February 1975, when the two of them were among a few employees in the Star newsroom. He claimed the woman, who worked at the Star between 1973 and 1974, had been psychologically ill, and a doctor had suggested he “calm her down,” Ayers told the Star. “We took it to upper management and said, ‘We need assistance. She and other female employees at the newspaper would warn new female workers to avoid Ayers. 'The story is the story' 
 
 But since this story involves a newspaper, the story of how the story got initially told has become part of its telling. Eddie Burkhalter, a 43-year-old with two stints of reporting at the Star totaling eight years, read a Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017 column in the Alabama Political Reporter written by Joey Kennedy. This is terrible,’ ” said O’Connor, who teaches at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C. “Basically, from what we were able to see, nothing happened.” 
 
 The allegations against Ayers first emerged in mid November, in an online column by Joey Kennedy in the Alabama Political Reporter, vaguely mentioning allegations involving his wife, Veronica Pike Kennedy, against a publisher. Ben Cunningham, managing editor at the Star, wrote in a commentary that Burkhalter’s allegations about pursuit of the story are “flatly false.” Bob Davis, the current editor and publisher of the Star, wrote in a separate column that he instructed Cunningham to tell Burkhalter to suspend work on the story for a few days until they had a chance to discuss how they would go about treating anonymous sources. He said Cunningham was initially receptive to pursuing the story. Since Jan. 1, Cunningham published a column recounting the events of Burkhalter's resignation. Then Burkhalter resigned and the Star assigned a new reporter to the story. Eddie Burkhalter, then a reporter at the Star, noticed the column and expressed interest in reporting on the story. But that's what I was trying to do." The paper continued to gather information and published its story after Burkhalter's work appeared in the Alabama Political Reporter on Jan. 1. The allegations against Ayers were first reported on the website Alabama Political Reporter and later described in articles in the Anniston Star and Montgomery Advertiser. The next day, Burkhalter went to work for a plumbing supply company in Anniston. The rise of the #MeToo phenomenon, focusing attention on sexual harassment and sexual assault claims and their victims, has affected many high-profile media figures in recent months. “The airing of these allegations, in our pages and elsewhere, are a difficult time for this extended family,” Cunningham wrote.
– Following accusations from multiple women that he spanked them when they were reporters in the 1970s, the former publisher of an Alabama newspaper has resigned from his position at the head of the company started by his grandfather, AL.com reports. According to the Washington Post, 82-year-old H. Brandt Ayers on Thursday stepped down as chairman of Consolidated Publishing, which owns the Anniston Star and five other newspapers. "It is of utmost importance to me that this newspaper continue to serve its role of reporting on matters of concern to the Anniston community and that nothing stand in the way of preserving the newspaper as an independently owned publication serving the community," Ayers says in a statement released to the Star. Ayers, who served as publisher of the Star until 2016, admitted earlier this week to spanking a female reporter at her home in the 70s. He claims he was following a doctor's advice to "calm her down" regarding her psychological illness. Another former reporter, Veronica Kennedy, says Ayers spanked her with a metallic ruler after pulling her from her chair in the newsroom. Ayers has said to "let the accusation stand." A third woman has also accused Ayers of spanking her. Kennedy says she's "happy that at least there was some acknowledgement that these incidents occurred." Though she says Ayers' resignation is "just a baby step," as his family will remain in control of Consolidated Publishing. Ayers' wife is replacing him as chairman.