Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/Sara Palczewski/Opelika-Auburn News via AP and 1819 News
The day before F.L. “Bubba” Copeland’s funeral last week, a conservative website published a podcast episode defending its articles that exposed the Alabama mayor and pastor’s secret online persona dressing in women’s makeup and clothing.
During the episode, 1819 News CEO Bryan Dawson and Editor-in-Chief Jeff Poor discussed their approach to covering Copeland’s private affairs, revealing that they received a tip about the beloved public servant on Oct. 30 and assigned it to reporter Craig Monger. They stressed that Copeland’s activities were already public on Reddit.
“It was a tough decision,” said Poor, who is also a writer for right-wing outlet Breitbart News, in the Nov. 8 episode. “But we made the decision, you stick with it. And I just–at that point, he’s a double public figure. And you—the people, I think, at the First Baptist Church of Phenix City had a right to know what their worship leader was doing.”