AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Longtime Alabama newspaper executive Paul Davis, who exposed abuses at state mental hospitals, died Sunday at his Auburn home after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 74.
Davis served as a reporter and associate editor of the Tuscaloosa News, where he uncovered problems at Bryce Hospital and Partlow School in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His reporting led to federal court decisions that set new national standards for the care of the mentally ill and mentally disabled.
He also served as editor of The Selma Times-Journal, general manager of the Natchez Democrat in Mississippi, and publisher and editor of the Auburn Bulletin, The Tuskegee News and Tallassee Tribune.
The executive director of the Alabama Press Association, Felicia Mason, said Davis' courage was an inspiration to everyone in the industry.
