Citing a new Utah state law aimed at stopping abusive lawsuits that threaten free speech, the 130-year-old Millard County Chronicle Progress newspaper has asked a judge to dismiss a $19.2 million lawsuit brought by a developer over reporting published by the paper. The rural newspaper says a suit brought by Fillmore land developer Wayne Aston was filed in an effort to silence reporters through a prolonged and expensive legal battle.

The suit claims the newspaper, through reporting by editor and writer Matt Ward, harmed his business by causing readers to “distrust, hate and despise” him and his company and that the negative press caused several lenders to reject his loan applications.

The series of six articles reported on Ashton’s announced plans to build a $280 million modular housing manufacturing plant in Fillmore and his subsequent change in plans. Ward then reported that the development agreement no longer proposed building modular housing, but a facility which would turn construction waste into other building materials. The Fillmore city council ultimately rejected Ashton’s project.

Ward’s reporting stated that city officials had soured on Aston’s plans, citing comments made during a city council meeting. But Aston argued in his lawsuit that the city has never “completely rejected” his project, and that he continues to work with officials to revise details in the development agreement.

Attorneys for the Chronicle Progress filed a motion earlier this year asking a judge to dismiss the lawsuit under a new law called the “Uniform Public Expression Protection Act.” The 2023 legislation strengthened previous state law that attempts to deter abusive lawsuits – known as “strategic lawsuits against public participation” or “SLAPPs” – aimed at silencing free speech through lengthy and meritless court fights.

Attorneys for the newspaper argued in its dismissal request that their case “is a prime example of why that was enacted.”

“This case is a retaliatory lawsuit,” the dismissal plea reads, “brought by a litigious real estate developer who seeks to silence the voice of the small-town newspaper that dared report on his efforts to convince Fillmore City to help him raise hundreds of millions of dollars by selling infrastructure bonds for a development project.”

“There is no merit to his defamation claim,” the Chronicle Progress filing said, “but that’s not the point of lawsuits like this.”

You can help

The expense of defending a lawsuit  brought by a Fillmore land developer is having a crippling effect on the Millard County Chronicle Progress.

“Like many small newspapers across Utah, such a financial hit materially impacts the important work they do in local communities,” said Joel Campbell, a friend of publisher Shellie Dutson and organizer of a GoFundMe campaign to help offset the cost of fighting the lawsuit. “I am asking the public and journalists to give what they can to help the Chronicle Progress defray these costs.”

Interested parties can make a donation on behalf of community journalism at https://gofund.me/8ee55423.