Morgan owned the Maine Times and Casco Bay Weekly, both of which are now defunct.
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.
Peter W. Cox's book, "Journalism Matters," was brought out by Tilbury House in February. Cox, who acted as publisher of the small alternative paper he co-founded, did much of the work for which the editor, the late John Cole, gets credit, writes Sam Pfeifle in The Portland Phoenix. Pfeifle describes Cox as a proud man who "was fiercely independent, and would not bend his integrity, but he was open and honest, and always accountable to his readers."
Bradford W. Ketchum Jr., last editor of the defunct Maine Times magazine, is suing owner Christopher Hutchins for severance pay, reports Bangor Daily News. Maine Times was originally a weekly newspaper and was a member of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, hosting the association's 1987 convention. In mid-2002, Hutchins closed the paper and revamped it as a monthly magazine, hiring Ketchum as editor at a yearly salary of $120,000. According to Bangor Daily News, Ketchum asked for and received a letter that stated he would receive one year's severance pay if his employment were terminated. In January 2004, all Maine Times staffers abruptly lost their jobs when Hutchins told them that publication would cease immediately.
