Phoenix contributing writer Lance Tapley's two-part article on the Special Management Unit or "Supermax" inside Maine State Prison, published Nov. 11 and Nov. 18, exposed conditions resembling torture. One of the Phoenix's sources provided a prison videotape showing a man being stripped, placed in a restraint chair and sprayed repeatedly in the face. The Phoenix has now posted three 30-second clips from the videotape on its Web site, "to bring public attention to the internal workings of Maine Supermax and similar correctional facilities across the nation." The video clips are in Quicktime format.

Continue ReadingThe Portland Phoenix Posts Maine Prison Video

Richard Karpel's response to a column questioning the future of investigative journalism was posted today in the Letters section of Editor & Publisher's Web site. Karpel cited examples of recent investigative work by alt-weeklies and concluded, "Readers of dailies who can no longer find the investigative reporting they crave don't need to wait for NPR or Yahoo! to fund in-depth reporting. They can turn to the pages of their local alternative weeklies."

Continue ReadingAAN Executive Director’s Letter to Editor & Publisher