How the Bentley Sex Scandal Broke Wide Open

Washington Post: “Anyone who has doubts about the importance of journalists in 2016 need be acquainted only with the reporting team at AL.com, the largest statewide news organization in Alabama. The group’s reporters cracked open a scandal involving their governor’s alleged infidelity last week and have been covering the unpredictable fallout aggressively ever since.”

“This scandal didn’t come to them overnight; they’ve been hearing rumors of an affair between Gov. Robert Bentley (R) and his top political adviser, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, for months. The story finally broke open on March 22 when a fired top law enforcement official went on the record to AL.com’s John Archibald about the alleged affair and offered proof. Faced with damning evidence of a taped phone conversation to a woman named Rebekah, Bentley has denied he had an affair, but few in a state accustomed to scandal believe him.”