Prison newspaper

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Prison newspapers are newspapers created within a prison, typically by the inmates.

Contents

History

The first prison newspaper is believed to have appeared in the 19th century in a debtors' prison. [1] : 86  Prison reformers in the US created a prison newspaper at the Elmira Reformatory in 1883. [2] : 36–38  It was "carefully assembled not to include items that officials deemed to have a bad influence on the inmates" and was instead intended for rehabilitative purposes. [2] : 40  The first inmate-driven paper was created at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in 1887. [3]

A 1935 study, the first on the topic, found that almost half of US prisons had a prison newspaper. [3] The genre reached its height in the 1960s in the United States, at which point circulation was approximately 2 million readers across 250 publications. [1] : 86 During this period "active and alert prison reporting" became more common, with inmates highlighting problems within the prison system. [4] The "Pulitzers of prison journalism", the Penal Press Awards, were awarded annually beginning in 1965. [5]

However, they faced issues around freedom of the press, as critiques of prison practices were met with institutional censorship. [1] : 87 In 1974, in the US Supreme Court case of Pell v. Procunier, the court ruled to uphold a California state restriction against prison inmates being interviewed face-to-face by the press. Journalists and inmates had contended that this restriction violated the First Amendment. [6] This ruling "largely replaced" earlier precedents supportive of prison reporting; subsequent court decisions also held that "the prison's security interests trumped the free speech rights of inmates" and that prisons could entirely forbid prison newspapers. [1] : 87  Similar patterns and tensions emerged in other parts of the world, such as Canada. [7] : 98  These pressures resulted in a quick and significant decline in the number of prison newspapers in publication between the 1970s and 1990s, with just six operating in 1998. [3] [1] : 87  However, more recently, "alongside a surge in bipartisan interest in criminal justice reform, prison journalism has reemerged and garnered the attention and support of funders, politicians, and the public". [8] As of 2023 there are an estimated 24 prison newspapers in the US. [9]

Reporting

Early prison newspapers were typically "devoted to inmate activities: sports events, movies and other entertainment, personal items, blood banks, school and organizational activities, hobbies, and the like". [7] : 90  Humour was also often featured. [7] : 91  Sports remain a popular topic of reporting. [10] Depending on the level of censorship at a particular institution, such papers may carry stories critical of the prison administration. [10] [11] With the modern aging prison population in the US, obituaries have also become a feature. [10]

Challenges within the prison system, including potential reprisals against prison journalists, complicate reporting. [12] The US Federal Bureau of Prisons has an explicit ban on journalism by inmates, while most US states have restrictions that negatively impact journalism from within jails. [13]

Notable examples

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Amy E. Lerman & Vesla M. Weaver (2014). Arresting Citizenship: the democratic consequences of American crime control. University of Chicago Press. ISBN   9780226137971
  2. 1 2 James McGrath Morris (2002). Jailhouse journalism: the fourth estate behind bars. Transaction Publishers. ISBN   9780765808912.
  3. 1 2 3 Kate McQueen. Prison Newspaper Project. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  4. ↑ James Nelson Goodsell (March 1959). "The penal press: voice of the prisoner". Federal Probation, p. 54.
  5. 1 2 Wilbert Rideau & Linda Labranche (25 June 2014). Can a free press flourish behind bars?. The Nation.
  6. ↑ John Vile (15 December 2023). Pell v. Procunier (1974). Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University.
  7. 1 2 3 Christ Clarkson & Melissa Munn (2021). Disruptive Prisoners: resistance, reform, and the New Deal. University of Toronto Press. ISBN   9781487525910
  8. ↑ Olivia Heffernan (29 April 2022). Why prison journalism matters. Jacobin.
  9. ↑ Hanaa' Tameez (14 March 2023). The Prison Newspaper Directory finds that the number of prison-based papers is growing. NiemanLab.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Morgan Godvin (13 May 2022). The Angolite Comes to the Reveal Digital American Prison Newspapers Collection. JSTOR Daily.
  11. 1 2 3 Phoebe Judge (7 July 2023). The Prison Newspaper. Criminal.
  12. ↑ Yukari Kane (20 September 2021). Lessons learned from a scoop out of San Quentin. Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, University of Missouri.
  13. ↑ Brian Nam-Sonenstein (15 June 2023). Breaking news from inside: how prisons suppress prison journalism. Prison Policy Initiative.
  14. ↑ Sewell Chan (11 February 2020). Review: 'Prison Truth' takes readers inside San Quentin's inmate-run newspaper. Los Angeles Times.

Further reading

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