[3] In 1974 she became the first female managing editor of a major U.S. daily newspaper,[4] The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky.
She was cited as the example of female achievement in journalism when Time named American Women as the 1975 People of the Year.
[6] She is also credited with significantly raising the number of minority reporters on staff.
[citation needed] The family holds a Carol Sutton Memorial Scholarship Award in her honor every year, which has grown from one recipient to eight or twelve.
[8] She was the first white woman to be inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame.