Prison newspaper
Prison newspapers are newspapers created within a prison, typically by the inmates.
History[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
- Forlorn Hope was the first prison newspaper in the US, begun in 1800.[11]
- The Prison Mirror, first published in 1887, is the oldest continuously operating prison newspaper.[11][5]
- The Angolite, the prison newspaper of the Louisiana State Penitentiary, has won numerous journalism awards including the George Polk Award and a nomination for a National Magazine Award.[10]
- The San Quentin News from San Quentin State Prison is the subject of a 2020 book by journalism professor William J. Drummond.[14]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e Amy E. Lerman & Vesla M. Weaver (2014). Arresting Citizenship: the democratic consequences of American crime control. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226137971
- ^ a b James McGrath Morris (2002). Jailhouse journalism: the fourth estate behind bars. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 9780765808912.
- ^ a b c Kate McQueen. Prison Newspaper Project. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
- ^ James Nelson Goodsell (March 1959). "The penal press: voice of the prisoner". Federal Probation, p. 54.
- ^ a b Wilbert Rideau & Linda Labranche (25 June 2014). Can a free press flourish behind bars?. The Nation.
- ^ John Vile (15 December 2023). Pell v. Procunier (1974). Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University.
- ^ a b c Christ Clarkson & Melissa Munn (2021). Disruptive Prisoners: resistance, reform, and the New Deal. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9781487525910
- ^ Olivia Heffernan (29 April 2022). Why prison journalism matters. Jacobin.
- ^ Hanaa' Tameez (14 March 2023). The Prison Newspaper Directory finds that the number of prison-based papers is growing. NiemanLab.
- ^ a b c d Morgan Godvin (13 May 2022). The Angolite Comes to the Reveal Digital American Prison Newspapers Collection. JSTOR Daily.
- ^ a b c Phoebe Judge (7 July 2023). The Prison Newspaper. Criminal.
- ^ Yukari Kane (20 September 2021). Lessons learned from a scoop out of San Quentin. Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, University of Missouri.
- ^ Brian Nam-Sonenstein (15 June 2023). Breaking news from inside: how prisons suppress prison journalism. Prison Policy Initiative.
- ^ Sewell Chan (11 February 2020). Review: 'Prison Truth' takes readers inside San Quentin's inmate-run newspaper. Los Angeles Times.
Further reading[edit]
- Lovey Cooper, Emily Nonko, & Danielle Purifoy (Eds.) The Press in Prison. Scalawag Media. ISBN 9781642598957
- Elanor Novek (2011). The life inside: incarcerated women represent themselves through journalism. In Jodie Michelle Lawston & Ashley E. Lucas (Eds.). Razor Wire Women, ch. 21. State University of New York Press. ISBN 9781438435336
- Adam Quinn (2021). "Aboveground, underground, and locked down": radical prison newspapers in Washington, 1975–90. Radical History Review, 2021(141):151–175.
- Phillip Vance Smith II (10 November 2022). What's it like to be an editor of a prison newspaper?. JSTOR
- Fredrik Stiernstedt & Anne Kaun (October 2021). Prison papers: between alternative and mainstream. Journal of Alternative & Community Media, 6(2):197–216.