Jailhouse Journalism: The Fourth Estate Behind Bars

by James McGrath Morris

Overview

In the 1980s alone, some 100 periodicals were published by and for inmates of America's prisons. Unlike their peers who passed their sentences stamping out licence plates, these convicts spent their days like reporters in any community - looking for the story. Yet their own story, the lengthy history of their unique brand of journalism, remained largely unknown. In this volume James McGrath Morris seeks to address the history of this medium, the lives of the men and women who brought it to life, and the controversies that often surround it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781351511230
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/12/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	270
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

James McGrath Morris

Table of Contents

1: Forlorn Hope; 2: When Luceppa Bared Her Bosom; 3: The Summary; 4: The Reformists’ Newspapers; 5: The Prison Mirror; 6: The Mentor; 7: The Subterranean Brotherhood; 8: Federal Scribes; 9: Can Opener, New Era, and the Wobblies; 10: The Rose Man of Sing Sing; 11: Harelike Growth; 12: Chronicling Wrongful Imprisonment; 13: Der Ruf; 14: Leaves from a Lifer’s Notebook; 15: Yoke of Censorship; 16: Bayou Style; 17: Fighting Back; 18: The First Amendment and the Prison Press; 19: Prison Journalism Writes “-30-”

Editorial Reviews

Morris provides a history of newspapers printed behind bars in America from 1800 to the present. In what he believes to be only the second book ever published on the subject, the author examines the stories and the people behind a number of penal newspapers, such as those at Sing Sing, San Quentin, and other famous prisons. He also discusses some larger issues, such as the chronicling of wrongful imprisonment, censorship, and the decline of the prison press in recent years. Appends a listing of American Penal Press contest winners from 1965 to 1990 and a list of prison publications by state including dates of publication. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

"The most current and comprehensive book available on correctional journalism ... a great study of freedom, confinement, communication and several nearly forgotten aspects of penal history." —Corrections Today "An impressively researched history of a vital, neglected aspect of prison culture." —Punishment & Society "Morris piece[s] together the rich and turbulent history of penal journalism...reaches beyond the publications to the fascinating lives of inmate journalists... belongs in the permanent collection of anyone interested in prisons or journalism." —The Angolite "Thorough in providing a history of the prison press. . . . [S]hould be considered for supplemental reading in criminal justice classes and journalism history, law, and other courses. . . . [U]seful." —Journalism and Mass Communications Quarterly "A splendidly researched history, a most timely message, and a deeply moving narrative." —H. Bruce Franklin, author, Prison Literature in America "A careful, moving description of the minds and written works of American men and women behind bars." —Ben H. Bagdikian, author, The Shame of the Prisons and Caged "Sometimes surprising and always fascinating." —Sanford J. Ungar, former co-host, "All Things Considered" "Written with verve and insight, which in the end will get you thinking not only about journalism but also jails themselves." —John Maxwell Hamilton, Louisiana State University

From the Publisher