Hunter Ford

Hunter Ford is a newspaper reporter, currently working for The Western Star in Bessemer.

Ford gained notoriety during his tenure with the now-defunct Hoover Gazette, where he was a reporter during the controversy regarding Hoover High School football coach Rush Propst and his professional and personal misconduct. Ford, who had previously written a column in The Gazette supporting the naming of Propst to the then-vacant head coaching position at UAB, had been investigating rumors about Propst for several months prior. When accusations that Propst had instigated changes in the grade records of some of his players surfaced, Ford appeared as a guest on the Paul Finebaum radio show on WJOX-FM, where he publicly mentioned for the first time the longstanding rumors that Propst had engaged in multiple extramarital affairs, including one affair that resulted in at least one child. This was the first time that any mention of these affairs had taken place mainstream media outlet, as reporters had previously been unable to get anyone to confirm the rumors for the record.

Ford was then told by Gazette general manager John Junkin to drop the story, fearful that advertisers might bolt from the fledgling weekly newspaper. Ford refused, and appeared on Finebaum's show again three days later to talk further about Propst. After Ford's appearance, Junkin called the Finebaum show and fired Ford, live and on the air. (The Gazette ceased publication five weeks later.)

Ford, who at the time was splitting his time between The Gazette and The Western Star, immediately went full time with The Star, and subsequently wrote a column in which he detailed the rumors and his findings. The Star published an column the following week, apologizing for running Ford's column — not for the information, but because it was about an issue which had little to do with the newspaper's Bessemer-area readership.

The rumors were later reported by The Birmingham News when the allegations were part of a lawsuit filed by Richard Bishop against the Hoover Board of Education, which had fired Bishop as principal of Hoover High. The News gained access to the allegations contained in the suit through a public-records request. Through the lawsuit and a subsequent investigation by retired judge Sam Pointer, Jr., and later Propst's own admissions at his resignation, most what Ford had originally reported was found to be true.

Ford had a previous reporting stint with The Western Star before working for The Hoover Gazette, but resigned after a dispute with then-editor Dan DeLong. (DeLong was later fired by Star owner Bob Tribble, but went on to run a new competitor, The Western Tribune.) Ford worked previously for the Birmingham Post-Herald, and in various public relations positions.