WHY ARE PROGRESSIVE CORPORATIONS SUCH CESSPITS OF… WELL… THIS? Alabama newspaper exec accused of spanking female workers.

In reports published in Alabama news outlets, at least three women say H. Brandt Ayers, who became a nationally known voice of Southern liberalism during his tenure as editor and publisher at The Anniston Star, assaulted them in the mid-1970s, once using a metal ruler. The women and other former newsroom employees say Ayers had a reputation for spanking other women.

Ayers — now 82 and chairman of Consolidated Publishing Co., which operates six papers including The Star — issued a statement saying he “did some things I regret” when he was a “very young man with more authority than judgment.”

Exactly how much judgement does it take to know better than to spank your employees with a metal ruler?