By Adam Allington, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – St. Louis Post-Dispatch Columnist Sylvester Brown says the paper has fired him. He claims it's the result of a management conspiracy to silence his critical voice.
Brown says the paper accused him of taking a plane ticket in exchange for writing a column about a renewable energy project in East. St. Louis.
Brown denied the charges at a news conference on Monday.
"I'm here to tell you that these charges are a gross distortion of the facts, which in my view have been purposely manipulated to provide cover for far more desperate and nefarious acts," says Brown.
Brown alleges that he was fired for being critical of the Post's lack of diversity and his criticism of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay.
He has written columns for the newspaper for more than five years. Prior to his work for the Post-Dispatch, Brown and his wife were previously the owners and operators of Take 5 Magazine.