Presenter: Nicole Ryan

Faculty Sponsor: Mary Jo Shafer

School: Northern Essex Community College

Research Area: Journalism

Session: Poster Session 4, 2:15 PM - 3:00 PM, Concourse, B13

ABSTRACT

Incarcerated populations contain voices least represented in journalism. There is access to programs that encourage the incarcerated to both find and use their voices, but there are educational barriers in place. The research explores some of the barriers faced by incarcerated individuals in terms of accessing and engaging in journalism as well as what journalism in particular offers to affected populations. The Prison Journalism Project (PJP) and various prison-based publications highlight both areas of strength and need within incarcerated populations, like the specific needs of women as well as the medically complex. Barriers to journalism for the incarcerated are educational shortcomings, inability to access technology in a way that supports prison journalism and various local, state and federal laws curtailing the rights of prison journalists. The research includes studies on prison journalism, explorations of projects that both encourage and promote journalism among the incarcerated like partner programs at University of California at Berkeley, interviews with people involved in different aspects of prison journalism, and legal information about the laws that create further barriers to incarcerated journalists. This project highlights not just PJP but also San Quentin News, from San Quentin State Prison in California; The Prison Mirror, from Minnesota State Prison – Stillwater; and The Angolite, from Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.